The Phantom's Sword
by DarkKing1
Summary: Danny's life started to go downhill after the Hungary student, Gregor came into the picture. His friends abandoned him and his parents stopped caring about what he did. So he let himself become immersed in gaming. When SAO came out, he didn't expect it to be a deathtrap. With his new friends and allies will he be able to escape the game? Takes place after D-Stabilized.
1. Chapter 1: The World of Swords

**Dark: Hey guys. This is the SAO/Danny Phantom crossover I wanted to do. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Danny looked outside and saw the gray clouds over head. His parents were downstairs. They haven't come out of the lab for a week. Sam and Tucker were no longer talking to him. Gregor held their attention at the moment ever since his fight. All he had was Jazz, his Japanese pen pal, and his 'Nerve Gear' headset. He looked at said headset. Sword Art Online came out today, and he was one of the first people who got it. His pen pal had made sure he knew when it was coming out and took a few risks to make sure it came out in the US the same day as Japan. Danny was familiar with the game, seeing as he was a beta tester for the game and became a level five before he died to a boar. His computer beeped and Danny walked to it. He opened the face chat and was met with his Japanese friend, Kazuto Kirigaya, but Danny just calls him Kazuto.

"Hey Danny." The ravenette said in Japanese.

"Hey." Danny replied, also in Japanese.

"What happened, you look like crap." Kazuto said, referring to his hair and eyes.

"Worst day ever." Danny said said.

"Care to elaborate?" Danny nodded, and began recounting is tale of the day.

* * *

_"Hey Sam..." Danny looked at his best friend, or former best friend. She was kissing the new kid, Gregor. Tucker was by them, snapping a picture. Everyone in the hallway turned to them, then to him._

_"Ha, Fenturd's girlfriend dumped him for a better guy." Dash said. Some people laughed while other threw him looks of pity. Danny said nothing and walked past them. Sam opened her eyes and saw Danny walking by, his hair covering his eyes. Jazz appeared by him._

_"I'm sorry that you had to see that, little brother." She said. Danny only looked at her._

_"I'm going to class." He split from her and headed to chemistry, leaving a worried Jazz behind, and the laughing or pitying people. Danny had been quiet and very closed off. Everyone stared at him as he quietly took notes on the lesson. Jazz watched her brother from her seat, worried for him._

_Lunch was okay today. It was semi edible, but before Danny could put something in his face, his plate was thrown into his face._

_"Take that Fentoad! You're so low even your friends left you for the new guy. Just comes to show how freaky you are." Dash said, each word twisting the knife in Danny's stomach. His eyes burned green as his hands clenched and unclenched. He was trying to hold down his anger. He stood up and let the tray fall from his face. He left Dash at his spot, but the jock didn't seem to be done. His hand went to Danny's shoulders."Where ya going, Fennerd?" Danny trembled as he felt the hand on his shoulder. 'Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him.' He chanted inside of his head. Dash smirked when he felt Danny's trembles."Ha, you're scared f me already? It's no wonder your friends abandoned you and left you." Before Dash could laugh, he was lifted off of his feet and spun in the air for less than a second before his back broke through a wall. Everyone in the hallway and lunchroom stared at Dash, then at Danny, who's fist was pointed to where Dash was groaning in pain. He heaved as he lowered his hand and looked around. Sam and Tucker were staring at him with disapproving stares. He glared at them and his eyes burned a dark green, making them flinch back. Gregor looked like he was about to run from him. He started walking to them, and they prepared to fight him, but were shocked when he walked past them, not saying a word._

* * *

"It just went downhill from there. I got suspended from school for six weeks for putting Dash in the hospital."

"Wow. That's gotta be rough." Danny noticed the paper in Kazuto's hand.

"What's that?"

"Oh, just some info about SAO's creator." Danny looked back to his Nerve Gear. Kazuto noticed."Hey, why don't we log in? I'll see you in the game?"

"You bet." Kazuto nodded and Danny's screen went blank. He walked to his window and leaned against it.

He looked outside again and saw Sam, Tucker, Gregor. He closed his window and went to his bed and sat down on it. He looked at his calender and saw that the days were crossed out to March 3. He looked at his headset and nodded to himself. He crossed out March 3 and laid on his bed. He put the headset on and closed his eyes. He gave a deep breath.

"Link start." He said. The Nerve Gear activated and he saw the usual start up. After a few minutes, he saw the familiar brick ground. He saw his gloves and looked up.

"Hello Aingrad. I'm back, and better than ever." He said as more characters appeared.

* * *

**Dark: Hey guys! This is the SAO/Danny Phantom Crossver I wanted to do. I'll update this occasionally, I might try to work out a system, but don't expect one unless I say that I will. Anyway, I need to know what Danny's suit looks like. Thanks, and I won't have my Danny muse in this story. I'll end this story after Gun Gale Online ending. Maybe one chapter afterward, but that's it, so expect great things in the future, like Danny's bossness, and Kirito's bossness! Oh, and do you want Dani to join Danny's journey? Leave a review for his suit and if Dani is liked enough, her suit. She's fourteen in this. So she's the same age as Danny. I might make Danny fall in love in this, but I don't know yet. **

**F&amp;F&amp;R. Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

**See ya later! **


	2. Chapter 2: Trapped In a Game

**Dark: You guys won't believe what I had to do to get this chapter up. I rewrote this chapter three times, and the first time was the best one. I cried for five minutes and thought about just not doing this chapter, but then I thought about the fans, so I sucked it up and typed. I hope you like this. After this chapter, I will call Danny: Phantom, because that's his avatar's name. Also, this story is going to focus more on Danny's adventure than Kirito's. If you want to see Kirito, watch the anime.**

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Danny was running around Aingrad, taking in the sights. He was right outside of the village when a name stopped him.

"Hey, Phantom!" Danny turned and saw Kazuto's avatar, along with a guy with a goatee and a red headband.

"Hey, Kirito!" Danny called. Kirito and the headband man ran over to him.

"Hey man, I was looking for you." Kirito said.

"Sorry, but I needed to get these legs working again."Danny patted his legs in emphasis."Who's the red guy?"

"My name's Klein." Klein put out his hand, which Danny took.

"Name's Phantom." Danny said. When he let go of Klein's hand, he saw something flash in his peripheral vision."Hey, I think I saw something. I'll catch up with you later." Danny said as he waved to Kirito and Klein. They waved and ran onto the fields. He walked up to the vendor's stand, ignoring the NPC in charge of it. He walked to the side of the stand, where he saw the flash. He turned the corner into the alley, and saw a girl with long, silver hair and red eyes. She squeaked and jumped back, but tripped on a crate, and fell onto her ass. The crate exploded into shards of code before disappearing. She looked up and saw Danny staring at her. Now that she wasn't crouched, he could see that she was in the standard beginner's outfit, except that it was green where his was blue.

"Sorry!" She said."I'm new to the game and wanted some directions, then I got lost, and saw you, and you looked familiar to someone I know, and so I hid because I didn't want to embarrass myself and-" Danny listened as the girl in front of him rambled very fast. He put his hand on her head, and rubbed it. That always got him to calm down, so it might work on her. She instantly shut up and looked at him with big eyes.

"It's okay, Ema." He said, reading her health bar. He smiled, but didn't expect the girl to jump on him and wrap her arms around his waist. They fell out of the alley and into the walkway.

"Thank you!" She said.

"Uh, can you let go of me? People are staring." She quickly got off of him and muttered a quick apology. Danny sat up and stood, bringing Ema with him."It's okay. You said you were looking for directions?"

"Yeah. I was when I saw you running around. You seemed to know where everything was. Are you a beta tester?" She asked.

"Yeah, one of the hundred." Danny said.

"Yo're so lucky. My fried was trying so hard to become a beta tester, but she didn't get the chance." She smiled, but then it dropped, replaced with curiosity."Hey, can you show me how to play? I'm new here, so I don't know much about games."

"I don't see why not." Danny said. Ema yelped and jumped up and down, attracting a bit of attention.

* * *

Ema fell on her ass as the boar hit her in the stomach. She clutched it and writhed in pain.

"It hurts." She whined.

"Now it doesn't." Danny said. Ema stopped writhing and blinked.

"Oh. Cool." She said as she stood up. The boar huffed at her before walking away. Danny walked and picked up a pebble.

"Rule number one of SAO: pain isn't a thing." He threw the rock at her forehead. She fell back and cradled it, but remembered that it didn't hurt."It's okay. It's just a reflex." Danny said, lifting her spirits."Second rule: Don't waste your time and energy on meaningless things." Ema's head tilted to the side, showing that she was confused. Danny picked up another pebble."This is where your Sword Skills come into play. There is an infinite amount of them in various things, except magic." Danny pulled the rock behind his head."This one is called Stance Charge."

"Stance Charge?" Ema repeated.

"Basically, you hold an attack stance and wait. You should feel something charging up, and when you know it's ready to use, use it." Danny's pebble glowed blue. After a second, he threw it and Ema watched as the pebble left a blue shockwave and hit the boar's stomach. It squealed as it was hit and turned around."The game makes sure you always hit, so no need to try and wait for a perfect strike, or throw all of your energy into the attack."

"Okay, that sounds easy." Ema said, drawing her dagger.

"Then get ready, cause he's coming back." Danny pointed to the charging boar with a smile and moved to the side. Ema turned to the boar and held still. She put the dagger at her hip and waited, letting the dagger glow green. When the boar was about to hit her, she pushed her dagger forward, her body moving with it. A green streak surrounded by spiraling wisps showed where her dagger moved. The streak cut into the boar and it's life went down. It exploded into shards of code and Ema turned to see the panel it left.

"I did it! Yes!" She cheered as she swung her dagger. Danny laughed and dodged as her dagger almost hit his face.

"Addicting, isn't it?" Danny said.

"Yeah. I like this." Ema said as she used her charge again.

"I know. Different abilities have different effects on the environment." He said, looking at two more boars that spawned.

"Hey, what kind of abilities are there?" Ema asked, still practicing her charge.

"Well, there is blacksmithing, cooking, fishing." Danny counted on his fingers.

"So, as long as you can do it in the real world, you can do it here?" Ema reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess that's a way of putting it." Danny said. He looked at his glove and narrowed his eyes. They widened when his hand glitched and the glove became white, then back to the brown he was used to seeing.

"Can you teach me a few more things about how the game works?" Ema's sweet voice pushed him from his thought.

"Sure, but you better be ready." Danny said as he picked up another rock, and threw it at another boar.

* * *

Ema fell to the ground after an hour of practicing. Her silver hair was spread out around her.

"This is tiring. Can we stop for a bit?"

"Sure. You earned it." Danny said. Ema sighed and looked at the sky."You're new at gaming, aren't you?" She turned and saw Danny watching the clouds pass.

"Yeah. This is my first game. My friend wanted it to be special, so virtual reality was a way to leave a lasting impression." She said.

"I'll say. You're not bad for a first timer." Danny said.

"I watch her play all the time, but I don't. I didn't find games interesting. The only reason I joined this one was because she threatened to lock me in the basement with the set. She was so proud when I put it on. I wonder where she is." Ema said.

"Well, if she's here, I'll help you find her."

"Really?"

"I promise, and I never break my promises." Ema wrapped her arms around Danny's neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said quickly. Danny just smiled and she got off of him.

"You're welcome." He said. After a few seconds, Ema put her hand in his face.

"My name's Ema."

"I know that."

"I never formally introduce myself, you just read my name." Danny chuckled, but took her hand.

"My name's Phantom." Danny said, shaking her hand. He suddenly stood up, bringing Ema with him."Time to start your next lesson." Ema groaned, but followed her new friend as he ran into the village.

* * *

"This thing is a lot lighter than I thought it would be." Ema commented, eyeing her new sword. It was a simple broadsword, like Danny's. She practiced swinging it as they retired to a hill. Danny fell onto the grass, watching as Ema swung her sword. He looked over and saw Kirito and Klein.

"Hey, Kirito!" Kirito turned to his head and saw Danny the same way he met him in the beta test. Lying on the ground with a smile on his face. Kirito and Klein walked over to them. Klein was the first to introduce himself, to Ema.

"Hey, I'm-." He had to duck as Ema's sword almost drilled through his head. Ema quickly took her sword back.

"Sorry, I got carried away." She said. She put her sword in it's sheath that was located at her left hip. Danny looked up at the clouds.

"It's amazing. Someone managed to create a completely virtual environment, filled with things that most people take for granted. The sun, the grass, the boar that kicked Ema's ass."

"Hey!"

"I just want everything to slow down. To enjoy what we were given and to live every day like it's my last." At Klein's and Ema's confused looks, Kirito explained.

"It's Danny motto. It's also his goal. To one day just sit back and watch as the world slowed down and stopped. No fighting, no wars, no loud noises. It's a reason why he played SAO, for the peace and quiet it kept." Ema and Klein nodded, and hit the ground when they realized that Danny fell asleep.

"He can sleep just about anywhere." Ema commented."What we you guys talking about when we came?"

"Oh nothing. I was actually about to leave so that I can go enjoy my date with a pizza." Klein said."If you want, we could all meet up sometime tomorrow."

"Sure. I'll let Danny know." Ema said. She pulled up the menu and sent the sleeping boy a friend request. A panel opened in front of him and she moved to see it. She was about to touch his hand, but it shot up and grabbed her wrist. She held a breath as she stared into Danny's _green_ eyes. He blinked and his eyes were blue.

"Sorry, but I like my personal space when I'm sleeping." He said

"Woah, dude that was awesome!" Klein said, marveling at Danny's reflexes. Danny sat up and yawned. He stretched his limbs and stood up, then noticed the panel in front off him.

_Would you like to join Ema's party?_

He selected yes and Ema's health bar appeared under his.

"Dude, you have got to show me how to do that." Klein said. Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"I fell asleep again, didn't I?" Kirito and Ema nodded.

"Well see ya. I don't want to miss my pizza." Klein said. He pulled up his menu and Ema stood over his shoulder, watching. Danny and Kirito turned, but stopped when they heard Klein's voice.

"What the?" Klein said. Ema stood on her toes to see the problem.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked, coming up to him.

"The log out button. Where is it?" Klein asked.

"It should be at the bottom of the menu." Kirito said, pulling up his menu.

"It's not there." Danny said, looking for the button.

"Oh well. Today's what, the first day outta beta, the server people must be freaking out right about now." Klein said, calming Ema's rising panic.

"You will be too. It's 5:25." Kirito said. Klein did freak out about his pizza. Ema backed away from him while this happened.

"Isn't there another way to log out?" She asked. Klein stopped his freak out.

"No, the only way for a player to log out of SAO was to go through the main menu."

"No way. There has to be another way. Return, Log out. Escape!" Klein tried several different moves.

"Now that's just pathetic." Danny commented. Klein glared at him.

"Why aren't you panicking?"

"Cause I know that the developers are losing it right about now." Danny said.

"There had to be an emergency log out, right?" Ema asked.

"No, there wasn't any talk about it in the manual." Kirito said.

"No way. I know, I'll just rip the headset off." Klein put his hands to his head in an attempt to take of the headset.

"That won't work. Once your hooked in, you can't move your body in the real world anymore. The Nerve Gear intercepts the commands you give from inside the game using an interface built into the back." Danny looked at his glove._'Does that mean I can use my powers in here?'_ He was snapped out of his thoughts by Klein's voice.

"Seriously? So now we have to wait around here until someone gets around to fixing the bug?!" Klein said.

"That or until someone in the real world comes and takes the Nerve Gear off us."

"I live alone. You guys?" Klein said.

"I'm with my friend." Ema said.

"I have a mom and a sister." Kirito said.

"I practically just have a sister." Danny said. Klein suddenly jumped onto Kirito.

"You have a sister? How old is she? What's she like?" Kirito backed up as he answered.

"She's into sports and haters gamers, and wouldn't date one even if you were-"

"I don't care about-" Kitiro pushed his knee between Klein's legs, causing him to fall and writhe while holding his balls. He stopped after a second."Oh yeah, getting kicked in the balls doesn't hurt anymore." He looked up to Danny, who kicked his face.

"Don't even think about it." He said, his voice serious.

"Don't you think this is weird?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah, but it's just a bug." Klein said.

"Its more than a bug. If we can't log out, it's gonna cause some serious problems for the game."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I wonder if the developers know what's happening, because they can just shut down the server and log everybody out. But why haven't they made an announcement?" A bell started ringing and the four looked at the bell tower.

"I have a feeling you're going to get your announcement." Danny said as they disappeared in a blue flare. The quad reappeared in the plaza.

"What's going on?" Ema asked, looking around.

"Someone forced a teleport." Kirito said.

"Look." Danny pointed to a flashing red light above the plaza. Everyone stared at it and suddenly, it expanded until it covered the sky. Red blood came from the edges of the hexagons. It gathered above the crowd and Ema held a hand over her mouth to keep from gagging. The red things started sparking.

"What the hell is that?" Klein asked. A hooded figure appeared as the blood stopped.

"He knows how to make an entrance." Danny commented. The hooded figure spread his arms.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world." The figure said.

"What does he mean by that?" Kirito thought out loud.

"I have a feeling, but I hope it's wrong." Danny said.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as off this moment, I am in control of this world." Danny's eyes widened."I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus. The log out button." He opened his menu to emphasize his point."Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If someone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear will discharge a microwave into your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life." Murmuring went through the crowd.

"Are you listening to this crap? He's gotta be nuts, right?" Klein said.

"He's not. The transmitter signals work just like microwaves. If the safety's disabled it could fry your brain."

"Couldn't someone cut the power?"

"The Nerve Gear has an internal battery that has enough chemicals to last a long while." Danny said.

"This is crazy, it's totally crazy."

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear. An unfortunate decision to say the least. A a result, the game has 213 less players than when it began. They have been deleted from both Aingrad and the real world." The hooded figure said.

"213?" Kirito said.

"No way. I don't believe it." Klein said. Ema's eyes widened along with Danny's. News panels opened Around the figure, showing the news from different parts of the world. One panel showed Amity.

"As you can see, international media outlets have around-the-clock coverage of everything, even the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of removing the Nerve Gear is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It is important to remember the following. There is no longer anyway to revive to someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the game, forever, and the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain." His voice echoed.

"That means that if you die in the game..." Ema began.

"You die in the real world." Klein finished.

"You sick bastard!" Danny yelled. Some people followed his lead, but they were silenced.

"The only way for a player to escape now is to clear the game. Right now, you are gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aingrad. If you make it to the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. If you defeat the boss on floor 100, you will clear the game."

"We can't clear all hundred floors. That's impossible. Even the beta testers never made it that high!" Klein shouted.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look." Danny opened his menu and saw what the present was.

"A mirror?" He looked toward Ema as the mirror appeared in her hand. Someone screamed as a blue light covered them. Ema screamed and Danny turned to see her covered in blue. He followed. When it was over, Danny opened his eyes.

"You okay, Phantom?" He looked to his right and saw a girl with black hair and blue eyes.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"It's me Ema. Is that you Phantom?" She asked. Danny looked at the mirror, and saw his real world reflection. HE stared with wide eyes, but the mirror suddenly glitched and his ghost self stared back at him. He yelped and dropped the mirror. It shattered against the ground. Ema ran to him."Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine, but how is this possible?" DAnny asked, referring to his ghost half being in the game.

"The scan." Kirito said. Danny and Ema turned to him."There's a high density signal device inside the Nerve Gear. It can see what my face looks like. But how does it know my height and body type?"

"The first time you turn on the Nerve Gear. It had you do this calibration thing." Klein said.

"I remember. It asked you to touch your body all over, like this." Ema patted her arms down. That's when Danny remembered what happened. He was doing the calibration when his ghost sense went off. He transformed, with the helmet on, giving the game his ghost data._'It must've figured that we were the same person, so we had the same body type. And if it intercepts commands from the brain...' _Danny focused a bit of power to his hand, but an error message suddenly covered his hand. He called it off and the message went away._'It can intercept commands, but it can't define my powers because it never 'saw' them.' _Danny reasoned. He looked up and saw Klein freaking out, again.

"What's the point? Why would anyone do this?" Klein asked. Kirito pointed at the hooded figure.

"Right now, you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nerve Gear do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design." _'So, he was going for a take over the world bid, inside of a game. Smart'_ Danny thought to himself."As you can see, I have achieved my goal." Danny let his hair cover his eyes as they glowed green.

"Phantom?" Ema said, putting a hand on Danny's shoulders. Kirito wasn't fairing in his anger either.

"This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." The hooded figure disappeared in red smoke and code. Everyone stared, hoping that this was a joke. Someone screamed, and everyone came out of their trances. Ema's hand was jerked.

"Kirito, Klein, let's go." Danny said. pulling Ema through the crowd. She looked back and saw Kirito and Klein ducking and hopping over people who were panicking. She looked back to Phantom, who was glitching and his hair turned white. Her eyes widened when it turned back to black. _'What is Phantom?'_

* * *

The gang found an alley to hide in.

"Okay, listen. I'm heading out right now for the next village. I want you guys to come." Danny looked at the ground with his fist balled. Ema looked at him with concern."If what he said is true, and I think it is, the only way we're going to survive in here is by making ourselves as strong as possible." Kirito opened a minimap."In an MMORPG the money you earn, the xp, once the game starts up, there's only o much of that stuff to go around. The fields around this area are going to be hunted dry soon. I say we run to the next village, and stock up on points there. Me and Phantom know what areas to avoid."

"Sorry, but I can't go." Kirito stopped when Danny spoke up."Those people. The kids that are playing this game for fun, they're still back there. Their minds need to be stable enough so that once we get out of here, it'll be like this game never happened. I'll start my adventure after I set up something to help the people who only wanted this game for the fun, not to become trapped. I've gotta help them." Phantom said as he ran out of the alley. Kirito looked to Ema.

"I don't know much about games, and he's been helping me. So I'll stick with Phantom throughout this." Ema said.

"Okay, I understand. Keep an eye on him for me." Ema nodded and ran after Phantom._'My first game, and I'm trapped inside of it. This is sure to leave a mark in my memory.'_ She thought as she picked up a child before he was trampled by the feet of other panicking players.

* * *

**Dark: Hey guys. I still need Danny's and Dani's outfits. Leave something you like in the review.**

**F&amp;F&amp;R. Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

**See ya later!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Beater

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Phantom and Ema were walked through the village they had moved to. Phantom had on a leather plate over a white, long sleeve shirt with black pants. Ema had on an iron plate over a pink, short sleeve shirt with blue pants. They had spent the better part of the month setting up a school to help keep the children sane. Afterward, they wandered the first floor, gathering supplies, money, and experience.

"Hey, you going to that meeting?"

"What meeting?"

"Someone's holding a meeting about how to find and defeat the floor's dungeon boss." Someone said to Phantom's right. He walked up to the man who said it.

"Elaborate." He commanded.

"I don't know who's holding it, but he sent a message out to everyone that was around to meet up in the next town. That's where the meeting is." The guy said, kinda scared, and Ema couldn't blame him. Phantom could become a very scary person when he wanted, but most of the time he was a cool person.

"Thanks." Phantom said as he walked off. Ema followed him.

"We're going there?" Ema asked.

"The faster we clear this game, the faster we can get out, and the less people who die." Phantom's hands clenched, and Ema nodded. They set off to the next town, killing any animal that crossed them. As they were walking, Ema noticed something about Phantom. His hair was glitching again, and flashed between white and black.

"Why does it do that?" Ema thought out loud. Phantom turned to her.

"WHy does what do that?"

"Oh, I was referencing your hair. It's flashing again." Phantom pulled down a lock and saw that it was flashing between black and white."I don't know, must be an error within the game or something."

"But there are hardly any errors."

"Please, let's get off of this topic." Phantom said. Ema nodded and went silent, and his hair stayed black. After another five minutes, Phantom stopped her."We're here." Ema looked up at the coliseum in front of them.

* * *

She and Phantom got two seats up close to the bluenette up front. Everyone was still walking in, even Kirito. After another five minutes, the meeting started.

"Okay people, now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started." The bluenette shouted, and clapped to get attention."So anyway, I wanna thank everyone for coming. Good to see ya. My name is Diavel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight." Everyone laughed and Phantom cracked a smile, but Diavel became serious."Right. Anyway, here's the deal. Our party found the boss's room at the top of the tower today." Everyone stared with interest."First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two. Then, we need to tell the people in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to clear the game. Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree, or do you not?" The people in the crowd clapped and one whistled."Okay, like to hear that you're all with me on this. Now, let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll split up into parties of six." Phantom and Ema nodded to each other."A typical party doesn't stand a chance against the floor boss. We need a raid group of multiple parties." Phantom looked up and saw Kirito talking to a cloaked figure."Alright, looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then-" Diavel was interrupted by someone shouting.

"Hey! Wait a second!" A guy with spiky brown hair hoped down the steps."My name's Kibaou. Got that?" Phantom's eyes narrowed at him. He looked like someone who played _too_ fairly."Before we take on the boss, I need to get something off my chest. We all know about the 2000 people who died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now." Phantom's hands clenched. _'__The beta testers.'_ He thought. Diavel seemed to think the same thing.

"Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who are ex-beta testers, right?" Daivel asked.

"Of course I mean them. The day this stupid ass game started the beta guys just up and vanish, right?" Danny's hands clenched as his eyes burned green."They ditched all us beginners. They snagged all the good hunting spots. And they grabbed all the easy quests too. They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time they ignored us like we're nothing." Error messages popped up around Danny's hands as his hair became white."Hell, I bet there's some of them here. Come on out beta testers! We should make them apologize to us. And we should make them all give out their money and all the items they've got. They can't expect the party to trust them when they can't trust us. Why should we?" Danny was about to go up there and yell in Kibaou's face, but a deep voice stopped him.

"Can I say something?" A big guy stood up and walked toward Kibaou. He towered over him as he talked."Hi, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I wanna make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookie's death because they didn't help 'em, and you want them to apologize as well as give up their winnings. I leave anything out?"

"No. You didn't." Agil shuffled his hand and brought a small leather-bound book into the light.

"The item store hands these out for free. It's a guidebook. You got one didn't you?" Agil asked.

"Sure I got one. So what about it?" Kibaou asked.

"You know who was giving these out? The ex-beta testers." Agil turned to the crowd."Listen up. Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so lots of players still died. Now I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone, 'cause I wanna learn from those players deaths. I'm here because I wanna find out how we're gonna beat the boss." Agil turned to Kibaou, who just growled and stomped back to his seat. Agil followed.

"Hey Agil?" Agil looked up to see Phantom smiling at him. Ema turned her head and saw that Phantom wasn't by her anymore, then looked at where he was behind Agil."Thanks for putting that brat in his place. Thought I might've had to do it myself."

"No problem." Agil said as he turned to Diavel. Phantom walked back up the steps to Ema.

"Okay. Can we get back to the meeting now?" Diavel asked. Everyone nodded."For info on the boss, it's all in here." He held up the guidebook."The latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about. According to the book, the boss's name is: Illfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded be his minions. The Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type called a talwar. He also changed attack patterns." Diavel closed the book."That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the xp, and whoever gets and item gets to keep it. Any objections?" Phantom almost dared Kibaou to speak up to that he could shove a dagger into his shoulder, but everyone stayed quiet."Good. We leave tomorrow at 10 in the morning. Meeting adjourned people!" Everyone stood up as they left, and when Phantom and Ema left, she started laughing.

"I can't believe you didn't even do anything." She said between laughs. Phantom stared at he and his chuckles became laughter.

"I honestly don't know why I didn't. I swear he's going to cause some kinda a big trouble and I might have to take him down." Phantom said. Passing people stared at the two with weird expressions. They kept on laughing until they got to the village. Phantom looked around and grabbed Ema's hand before dragging her into the fields. She sighed, but used her legs to keep from falling over. More hunting, and more training.

* * *

That night, they came back to see the town alive with chatter about the upcoming battle. They walked through the small crowds for a bit before someone call them.

"Hey! Hey!" Diavel waved his hand and the duo stopped. He caught up to them."Hey, I saw you two at the meeting earlier. I don't think I heard you're names."

"My name's Ema, and this is Phantom." Ema introduced for them.

"Nice to meet you, Ema. Phantom." Both nodded in agreement."Anyway, I wanted to apologize for Kibaou's behavior. I noticed when she was practically holding you down." Phantom blushed as Ema laughed.

"No need. There are just some peolple who think that the world has to be fair, right?"

"Right. Anyway, I don't think I saw you join a party."

"Well, since day one, we've been in our own party." Ema explained.

"Mind if I joined? No one asked my yet, and I think we might make a great team." Diavel said. Ema looked to Phantom, who smiled like an idiot.

"I don't see why not. We could use the help, and I might be able to start a guild later, if enough people decided to join up." Phantom said as a panel opened up in front of Diavel.

"I would be one of the first to join." He said as his name appeared under Ema's. Phantom smiled, happy for the help he offered.

* * *

Danny and Ema were walking behind everyone, but in front of Kirito and his party member.

"so, what is this boss like?" Ema asked.

"I don't know. I remember a lot of red and a giant pig, but then again I ate my dad's special fudge before I logged on, and that stuff give's me weird dreams." Phantom said.

"Can you tell me about your parents?" Phantom looked at her weirdly."It's been a month since I started this game, so talking about the real world helps me feel like... like I'm still a part of it." She said.

"My parents were the kind of people who would shout at their family for not giving it their all. They were very eccentric and could smile anyday, whether it be in a war, or at my great-grandpa Jack's funeral. Everyone would see our house and think of aliens. No joke. They have a UFO on the roof." Ema giggled a little."But it was their job that cost me a good childhood. They would always be too busy to play with me as a child, or even cook for us. My sister tried to learn cooking, and ended up burning water, as well as her hair. So I learned cooking and am now better at it than the home-ec teacher in my high school. I don't know if I should be proud, or question my choices." Ema giggled a bit more. Danny's story ended as they reached the pillar. He drew his sword as Ema did the same."Get ready."

"Right."

"And don't die on me. Got it?"

"Got it." She said. The walls moved to let them in.

* * *

At the boss's door, Diavel stopped everyone and put his sword in the ground."Listen up everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win." He turned to the door."Come on." He pushed the door open and everyone walked in. Phantom and Ema joined him in the front as the lights came on. Illfang roared as he jumped in front of the raid. His minions spawned to the sides of him. They charged the raid. Diavel drew his sword and held it out in front of him.

"Commence attack!" Everyone ran past him and to the boss. Phantom and Ema jumped out of the way and stood to the sides, watching. They both took out any minions that no one saw or forgot, keeping their numbers up. Phantom turned his head as he was fighting a minion and saw up another one about to cut Kirito's head off.

"Switch!" He yelled as he pushed the Sentinel away from Ema. He ran as Ema quickly took his place. He pulled his sword back as it glowed blue."Come here bastard!" He shouted as he jumped and came down, cutting the Sentinel and killing it. He stood back to back with Kirito.

"How's your month been going?" Phantom asked as he parried an attack.

"Not bad. You?" Kirito said as he cut trough a Sentinel.

"Could've been worse." Phantom shrugged, and threw a dagger.

"Who's your partner?" Kirito had a smirk on his face.

"You already know her, but what about yours?" Phantom said, referring to the red cloak, who was going through ranks of Sentinels

"Her name's Asuna. That's all I got about her." Kirito said.

"Watch out. I got it!" Both Phantom and Kirito turned when Diavel spoke up. He ran to Illfang as his sword glowed yellow. Illfang roared and drew his weapon. Both Phantom and Kirito gasped when they saw it._'That's not a talwar. That's a nodachi! This isn't like the beta!' _They both thought.

"Wait stop!" Kirito said as Phantom killed the Sentinel in front of him.

"It's no use! Get out of there!" Phantom yelled as he ran to Diavel. Illfang jumped and landed on a pillar, which he used to launch himself around the room very quickly. Diavel looked up to see A nodachi come down on him. As he was flying through the air, Illfang's weapon glowed and he ran it through Diavel, and kicked him to the side. Phantom ran over to Diavel. When he got to his fallen comrade, he saw Diavel's health bar getting lower.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Phantom asked as he got of a healing vial. When he tried to use it, Diavel pushed it away from him.

"You were a beta tester too?" He asked. Phantom nodded."Please, defeat the boss, for everyone here." Diavel glowed and shattered into pieces in Phantom's hands. His eyes went wide before his hair covered them. He stood up on weak knees and saw Illfang. He clenched his hands and drew his 24 inch sword. He looked around and saw Ema taking care of another Sentinel. He looked at Illfang and charged wit a battle cry. Kirito followed his lead. Illfang saw them and held his sword as it glowed white. Danny copied his stance while running. His blade glowed white as his hair changed color. He and Illfang clashed and sent each other back.

"Switch!" Kirito nodded and was open to cut the beast's stomach, but its eyes flashed as it locked on to him."Kirito!" He was pushed out of the way and the only thing that was cut was Asuna's red cloak. Her sword glowed as she jabbed at Illfang, who was sent back. Phantom landed on the ground. He ran at Illfang."Ema!" Said girl nodded and got behind him, along with Kirito and Asuna. Phantom put his hand and got into his previous running stance. His sword glowed and he swung it as Illfang swung. They both weer sent into the air, and Ema ran up. Her sword glowed blue and she slashed at the beast's stomach, only for it to recover and hit her into a pillar."Ema!" Asuna jabbed Illfang's stomach and the beast staggered. His eyes flashed red and he brought his big sword down on her, but Kirito used his sword to stop Illfang's. When they drew back, Kirito' and Illfang's swords glowed and swung. Kirito went over hand, but Illfang changed his to underhand. PHantom watched as Illfang knocked Kirito into Asuna, sending both to the ground. Illfang was about to deliver the finishing blow as his sword glowed pink. Phantom intercepted his sword before it could finish its descent."Yoou are not going to kill my friends!" His eyes glowed green and he roared as he pushed against the boss's strength. He won and sent Illfang back a few feet. As the boss got his bearings, Danny saw Kirito's sword on the ground. He picked it up and had enough time to bring them over his head and block Illfang's attack. He roared and sent Illfang a few inches into the air, but it was enough to send the beast toppling. Danny prepared for him to get up, but the rest of the squad seemed to snap out of their stasis and charged at Illfang. Agil ran to him.

"We'l hold off this bastard until your health comes back up." He said. Kirito nodded and Agil joined the fight. Phantom helped Kirito and Asuna up and tossed Kirito his sword.

"Thanks." Kirito said.

"I'm not letting anyone else die in this fight." Phantom said. His sword glowed when Illfang knocked everyone away. He jumped into the air and his sword glowed blue. He brought it down as he fell."You bastard!" Phantom jumped into the air, far higher than he should've, and cut Illfang's stomach, causing the beast's sword to lose its glowed. Still in the air, Phantom kicked Illfang away and the boss landed on the ground. Phantom landed and saw Illfang, a red line on the side of his stomach. Phantom's sword glowed and he was about to charge, but Kirito and Asuna beat him to it.

"We got this. Go see if Ema needs help." Kirito said. Phantom nodded and ran to check on his other friend. He found her on the ground, her health bar low, but stable.

"You okay?" He asked. Ema looked up at him. A red gash was in her torso.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to watch you put the bastard in his place." She said. He helped her to her feet just as he heard the sound of glass shattering. They both turned to see a 'Congratulations' in front of the crowd. Everyone cheered, and Ema smiled, but when she looked at Phantom, he was staring at the ground.

"Diavel." He said. Ema's expression turned grim.

"It's okay. You didn't know." She tried to comfort him.

"But that doesn't mean I could've stopped him. I could've pushed him. I could've taken the hit." Phantom said.

"But if you did, you would've died instead."

"And?" Ema started to get annoyed with his attitude.

"What about your family? Your friends in the real world?" She asked.

"My friends abandoned me, and only my sister is concerned about me, and she's getting ready for college. Outside of this game, I have no one. I bet they don't even know that I'm trapped in a game. So if I took that hit, Diavel would still be alive, and the world would be rid of one more piece of dead weight." Phantom's eyes went wide when he felt his cheek get hit.

"What about me? I would miss you. Without you, I wouldn't know how to play and would probably be dead. What about Kirito? He's your friend, and so am I. Right?" She lost her anger when she asked her question. Phantom nodded, and cracked a smile.

"Right." He said. They both were snapped from their conversation when Kibaou shouted.

"Stop cheering!" Everyone turned to him."Why'd you do it? Why'd you let Diavel die?"

"Let him die?" Kirito said.

"That's what I said. Admit it, you knew what technique the boss was going to use, didn't you. You and Phantom. You're both responsible for Diavel's death!" Phantom clenched his hands as he growled."You didn't tell us. If you did, Diavel would still be alive!" Phantom got off the pillar and walked toward Kibaou. While he was walking, the crowd seemed to turned on Kirito.

"I know why he knew. He used to be a beta tester. He knew the boss's attack pattern, but didn't tell us. And I bet he's not the only beta tester here. Come one, show yourselves." A random person said, pointing at Kirito.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Phantom said as he reached the front of the crowd. He drew his sword and let it rest at his side. It glowed green."My name's Phantom. I'm a beta tester." Kibaou glared at him."I want to shed a little light on something. Why are you suddenly getting mad at Kirito? You were just thanking him a second ago."

"He's a beta tester." The same person said.

"So, is that it?" Phantom held his glowing blade on his shoulder, giving him a darker, more threatening look. No body spoke up, but laughter was heard as it bounced off the walls. Everyone turned to see Kirito laughing like a maniac._'Gotta admit. His confident laugh sounds kinda like a mad scientist.'_ Phantom thought as Kirito stood up.

"So you think that used to be a beta tester? It's not cool to put me in the same class as those newbs." He said.

"What'd you say?" Kibaou said. He was about to move, but Phantom held his glowing blade to him.

"Be quiet, and you would've heard him." He said. Kibaou stood frozen in his spot.

"You heard me. Most of the thousand people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookie's. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up." Kirito said as he walked toward Kibaou."Hell even you guys are better than they were. But me? I'm nothing like those guys man." Kirito stopped in front of Kibaou, and Phantom took his sword back. Kibaou still didn't move."During the beta, I made it to floor's that were higher than any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss, because I fought tons of other monster with way more sword skills on higher floors." Kirito's head dropped and he smirked at Kibaou."I know a bunch of other things too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker." Kirito said. Danny wanted to correct him, but let him have his moment.

"What-what the hell? If tat's true then your worse than a beta tester. You're a fucking cheater, that's what you are!" The crowd started to shout, agreeing with Kibaou. Phantom had his signature smirk as he watched the fireworks.

"He's a beta tester and a cheater. He's a beater!" Someone yelled. Kirito smiled.

"A beater? Yeah that's good. I like it." Kirito opened his menu."You can call me a beater. Just make sure you don't confuse me with any of those beta testers again." He pressed a button and a black trench coat with a tall collar appeared on him._'He can pull off the 'scary, but not creepy look' better than Batman.'_ Phantom thought as Kirito walked away.

"He's got to by lying. Right Kibaou?" Someone asked. That's when Phantom decided to add his two cents.

"No. He was telling the truth. I know that he's been on more floors than any beat tester. And I know, because I was his partner." Phantom smirked as everyone turned to him."So consider yourself lucky. You now know two beaters, and I'm sure that there are no more than this. Now, good day." Phantom said as he and Ema walked away from the group. He heard big footsteps coming toward him, fast. He moved Ema to his left and turned around to block Kibaou's blade. Phantom tossed him to the side."Nice try, but in the real world, I wasn't easy to catch off guard." Phantom walked up the steps.

"A beater?" Ema said.

"Yep." Phantom said.

"And you like it?"

"Not really, and it'll probably be gone within two months, but from ow on, I plan to make a name for myself." He said.

"Okay, but know that no matter how famous you are, I'll always know you as Phantom. My first gaming friend." Ema said.

"Always." Phantom said. His stomach growled.

"But for now, let's go get some food. And I wanna explore this floor." Ema said, looking around. Phantom smiled and put his hand on her head.

"Sure. It'll be nice to take in the new scenery the game has offered us." He said.

* * *

**Review Reply:**

**Guest(1): You won't be disappointed.**

**Guest(2): Thanks for the suggestions. And you'll just have to wait for Dani.**

**Brenne: No, no ghosts will actually becoming into they game, leaving Danny against the threat of other players.**

**Slenderbrine: No. Ema is not Danielle. She's an OC that I made up to go with this story.**

**Ninhuhju: Danny does have his powers, just a few of them, such as his transformation and other powers that will be shown later.**

**Guest(3): I guess you don't like Sam or Tucker?**

**Isom: Thanks for the suggestion. And I think that might be hard when Danny's not going to be seeing them for two years and some months.**

**F&amp;F&amp;R. Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

**See ya later!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Christmas Present

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

It was December and everyone was in the Christmas spirit, except Phantom, who was brooding as they walked across a snow covered forest. Ema ran around, smiling and playing like a little child, but Phantom had his head down, his hair covering his eyes as they weaved around the trees. They saw a few other players, but those players fled when they saw the Phantom. After another group ran, Ema was fed up with his attitude.

"What's wrong with you?" Phantom looked up, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife."Do you like winter?"

"Yes." He answered, his voice cold.

"Do you like December?"

"Yes."

"Then what is wrong with you? Do you like Christmas?"

"No." Ema gasped.

"How can you not like Christmas, even the grumpiest of people at least tolerate it." She said, waving her hands.

"I have bad experiences with Christmas." Phantom said.

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"My parents argue over if Santa is real or not, and most of the time, it's publicly in a mall."

"That's not that bad."

"They forget to set up Christmas decorations, and they haven't stopped arguing since before I was born, which led to a lot of things, with reindeer, and Alaskan hounds, and even living reindeer statues." Phantom coldly said.

"Okay, that's bad, but there must've been one good thing about Christmas that you know. What about you friends in the real world?"

"One of my friends' parents hate me and my family, so their house is on lock down for a week, and the other locks himself in his house with his computers, and they both stopped talking to me anyway before I got on." Phantom said. His arm was suddenly yanked and he was being dragged along."Where are we going?"

"To show you a real Christmas." Ema said, dragging him along. Phantom said nothing and let himself be dragged to wherever his friend wanted to drag him.

* * *

Ema dragged him to several places. A trip that lasted for a week on different floors. A village to see the sights, a field to hunt, a small dungeon, the Town of Beginnings to check on the kids and gave them some presents. Each place made Phantom's mood lighten ever so slightly. A small shack that was out in the woods was the last place they came to on Christmas Eve. Phantom wasn't irritated anymore, but he still wasn't smiling. They arrived, with Phantom using his two legs to walk instead of an arm and Ema. He looked at the snow covered shack.

"How did you find this?"

"It's boring when you go into a village on business. This is where I go to have fun." Ema said, opening the door. The inside looked like it was completely natural. The floors and walls were made of wood. The living room had a soft sofa in front of a circular carpet and a fireplace. There was a window with a great view of a lake The kitchen was right next to the living room, and had a sink and dishwasher right by each other with the stove and oven on the other wall.

"This is nice." Phantom said, nodding his head in approval.

"Glad you liked it." Ema said, walking into the living room. Phantom followed and looked out the window. Past the lake was a nice hill that probably had a great view of the forest. It was white, signaling that it was covered in snow."Are you hungry?" He quickly turned around at Ema's voice. She was wearing an apron instead of her pink shirt and steel chestplate. Phantom could see a blue T-shirt under the apron with her blue jeans. She was very close to him, practically leaning on him. Phantom blushed at the close proximity, but Ema didn't notice.

"Y-yeah. I could go for some food." Phantom said, feeling exposed.

"I made something. You might like it." She said, exiting his personal bubble and walking into the kitchen. Phantom took one last look out the window, and followed her. When he walked through the door, he sweatdropped.

"Cookies as dessert and milk as the drink?" He deadpanned. Ema glared at him, cheeks puffed.

"You didn't even look at the main course!" She said, crossing her arms. Phantom looked at the food surrounding the cookies. There was a lot of it, some fish, with turkey, and mashed potatoes, and salad.

"It looks good." He commented.

"Thanks, I maxed out my cooking skill to get this without burning it." Phantom stared in shock.

"It's only been a few months! How?!"

"I practiced overnight." Ema said, proud of herself. Phantom stared at her and shrugged. They both ate in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet. After their meal, Phantom stood up walked toward the door.

"You're going to the hill across the lake, aren't you?"

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I saw one when I first came here?" She said.

"Maybe. They give me a great view of my surroundings, and I can hear my thoughts. It's peaceful." Phantom said, turning away from Ema. She smiled, and grabbed his hand."Where are we going?"

"To the hill that you love so much." Ema said, walking to the door, Phantom's wrist in her hand.

"You're going in an apron?" Ema stopped and took a look at herself. Her face turned a bright red. There was smoke leading to the kitchen after a second, which Phantom guessed where Ema was. After a minute, Ema stepped out, in her pink shirt and steel chestplate with blue jeans. Her cheeks were still pink. Phantom followed her outside. The walk there was quiet and Phantom all but passed out when they reached the top of the hill. Ema giggled when his back hit the ground.

"We just got here." She commented.

"And I'm just about to sleep." Something cold hit his face, making him shoot up. He wiped his face clean of snow, and was glaring at Ema, who was looking too innocent for someone with a snowball in her hands. She giggled and threw the ball of white. Phantom held up his hand and caught the snowball without it shattering against his hand. He threw it back and Ema moved her head. The snowball flew past her. She giggled and threw another, which Phantom dodged. He made two more and saw Ema, with a whole stack of them.

"How did you make those so fast?"

"Lots of practice with my friend. She always loved the cold, even in summer." Ema said, throwing another snowball. Phantom rolled away, but was hit in the face, sending him to the ground."Give up?" Ema stood over him, a smirk on her lips. Phantom moved his feet and tripped her, bringing her down to the ground with him. He jumped up and threw a snowball at her, covering her face with virtual snow.

"Do you?" Ema wiped the snow from her face and glared at him. He moved back as she did a handstand and pushed herself to her feet. She made a snowball.

"This. Means. War." She said. Phantom smirked as he held two snowballs in each hand.

"Bring. It. On." He said, throwing his snow.

* * *

After an hour, they stopped, with Ema holding her arms, shivering. Phantom sighed, walking with his hands behind his head.

"Rule number four of SAO." He said. Ema sighed and stopped shivering. Her arms dropped.

"Temperature doesn't apply." She said, drawling the sentence out.

"But it's fun to simulate." Phantom said with a smile. Ema smiled back at him, but didn't bother shivering again. The two stepped into the wooden home, and Phantom sat down on the sofa, asleep in seconds. Ema stared at his sleeping form, giggling. She knelt by the fireplace and lit it. The glow wasn't doing anything to warm them up, but it looked natural in its surroundings. She crawled over to the sofa and sat down on the other end, away from Phantom. She leaned her head against the arm and cast a glance back at him. His hair became white, and she wanted to run a hand through it, wanting to know if it felt like how it looked. Like snow. Her eyes closed and she tried to fight the sudden fatigue, wanting to watch the white hair a little longer, but that was a battle she quickly loss and darkness enveloped her vision.

Her eyes snapped open with a gasp. Ema shot up and looked around. The fire was still going, but Phantom was gone. There was a panel in front of her face. A message from Anonymous. She opened it.

_Phantom has left your party._

_Your party has been disbanded._

She sighed when it showed that message, but then noticed Phantom's HP bar not under hers. She gasped and looked around. Phantom wasn't anywhere and there were no sounds around the house, or room. Another panel opened up. Another message. She opened it.

_Hey, sorry I left, but I had to get something. I'll be back sometime tonight. Don't freak out about me leaving the party, but I needed to leave to do this. I'll be back._

It was from Phantom, and it made Ema relax. She closed the panel and looked around. _'How long was I out?'_ She thought to herself. She looked around, and decided to head out. Phantom was coming back, and it was boring without him.

* * *

Phantom was walking through the woods, smiling and whistling. He had gotten something for Ema, and it had cost him time and money, but it was worth it for the girl who made him smile during the season of giving. He made it to the wooden house and opened the door. It was dark. The fire was out, and no lights were on. "Ema?" He asked. He walked around, his guard up and a hand on his sword hilt, ready to strike. He walked around and his hair turned white, but he didn't notice. "Ema?" He called. He drew his sword and got into a stance. His sword glowed blue, providing a bit of light to his surroundings. He looked around. He heard movement to his left and turned. Something moved, fast away from the glow of his sword. He tried o follow the shadow, but his eye sight wasn't as good as it was in the real world. The shadow vanished and Phantom moved to where it had been. He kneeled to inspect the carpet. More movement and when he turned, he was tackled to the ground, causing him and his attacker to roll along the carpet for a second. His attacker shifted as they were rolling and found arms on his neck with a body in front of him instead of behind him. When they stopped rolling, Phantom was pinned to the ground by a weight on top of him. He tried to move his hands, but found that they were pinned behind his back. He stared in front of him, his eyes green. "I don't know who you are, but if you don't get off of me and get out of this-"

"Shut up. It's only me." Ema said, interrupting his threat. Phantom was still glaring, though for some unknown reason.

"Prove it." He said. If he could see, he would see Ema glaring at him.

"How? I can't prove that when the lights are out."

"Okay, you're Ema." Phantom said, trying to push the girl off him, but her grip around his neck was strong, very strong.

"How did you know?" She asked, her voice had gotten softer.

"You voice is like a soft bell, alarming, but comforting." Phantom said. He felt her nod, but she wasn't saying anything more."Is something wrong?"

"How can you stand it?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Huh?"

"When you left me, I went out into the forest, to do something. After a while, I found something that I wanted to give you from a wandering vendor. I got it, but some players found me and saw that I had it. They wanted it, but I didn't want to give it to them. I had gotten it for you. When I told them, they got mad and tried to attack me. I was confused. I didn't want to hurt them, but I didn't want them to take your gift. So I fought them, but I saw something in their eyes. They wanted-wanted..." Phantom rubbed her back as a few tears leaked from her eyes."They wanted to kill me. They didn't care that I had your gift, they just wanted to kill me. They were, cold. Heartless, mean, and I was able to beat them, but I knew that they would try and attack me again, and I didn't want you to get involved, so I...I..." Phantom waited, rubbing small circles in her back. Her arms tightened around his neck.

"You did what?" He asked, knowing the answer.

"I... I killed them!" She screamed."I didn't want to, but I had to. So I killed them, to make sure that they never came after me again. I-I" She hiccuped as she sobbed over her actions. Phantom did nothing but let her cry on his shoulder. He remembered when he had to destroy a ghost that was far too dangerous to put back in the Ghost Zone. Even though it was necessary, and it felt like the right thing to do, he couldn't get the sick feeling of ending something's life, even if it was already dead.

"I understand." He said. Her sobs were too loud for her to hear him, but they stayed like that until Ema had cried herself to sleep. Phantom carefully picked him and the sleeping girl up from the ground. Ema's head was buried in his chest with her arms in a death grip around his neck. He held her and walked up the stairs to the bedroom. He worked extra hard to get Ema's arms from his neck without waking her, and succeeded, but she kept a solid grip on his hand. Phantom tried to get her to let go, but each time he tried, her grip strengthened. He eventually gave up and laid down on the floor next to her. He looked back up ans saw Ema sleeping peacefully. Phantom smiled and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next morning was Christmas day. Phantom woke up and instead of hearing the shouts of his mother and father, he woke to the wood creaking as he moved along it._'That's right. Stuck in a death game.'_ He thought to himself. He looked at the bed to find that it was empty, with the blankets scattered everywhere. Phantom stood up and walked out of the room. The smell of food entered his nose when he stepped out, and he followed it to the kitchen. On the table was a plate of waffles and some bacon, but no Ema. A panel opened up in front of him. He opened the message.

_Went out. Try to stay in the cabin. _

He closed the panel and ate in silence, looking out the window every five minutes. When he was done, he explored the house since he wasn't allowed to go outside. After making a mental map of the house, he sat down on the couch and waited for Ema to return. He stared at the fire in the fireplace. After a moment of silence, an idea came to him. He suddenly stood up and looked around, making sure that Ema wasn't near. After confirming that she wasn't nearby, he spread his arms.

"Going ghost." He said. A ring of light appeared at his waist and split, one going up and one going down. When they were gone, he looked at himself in the window, his reflection had white hair, and his eyes were green. Other than those changes, he was still the same. His name and clothes hadn't changed, but his stealth skill was suddenly maxed out. He saw Ema in the window and stepped back, his rings illuminated the windows and Ema stared at the flash of white. She picked up her pace and was through the door in seconds.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Phantom asked, slouched on the small sofa. Ema stared, but relaxed.

"How was it while I was out?" She said, closing the door.

"Boring." He said, groaning.

"Now you see how I feel whenever you go off on your own." She said, crossing her arms.

"Okay, so I'll just take you with me wherever I go." Phantom said, Ema stared at him.

"Really?" She asked,.

"Yeah, I can't have anyone try and kill my friend, and I don't want you to have to kill again." Phantom said, his tone low. Ema looked down and tears sparked in her eyes again. Phantom noticed."Think about it like this. If they were left alive, they probably would've killed a lot more players. A few lives sacrificed for the safety of many." Ema nodded, but didn't show any signs of her mood changing, until Phantom said his next words,"Want to see what I got you?" She picked her head up with wonder in her eyes.

"You got me something?" She asked.

"You made Christmas nice for me this year, so I wanted to thank you." Danny said. A small hair clip appeared in his hands. The hairclips had SAO on it with a white sword going through the letters.

"What's that?"

"It's a hairclip, celebrating SAO's initial launch." The item was transferred to her inventory, and she smiled, and Phantom rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry I couldn't get you something more special. There was this Christmas quest, but someone already cleared it before me." He said, sheepishly.

"It's perfect." Ema said, putting the clip in her hair. She held out her hands as a blue glow covered them.

"Here's my gift." A 27 inch scabbard appeared in her hands and Danny stared at it. The hilt resembled an arrowhead and was a neon green color with a black gem in the middle. The handle was a black rod with a red segment at the bottom, and the scabbard was completely black with white Japanese characters which the game translated as 'Phantom'. The sword was transferred into his inventory and appeared on his back with the scabbard concealing it. He drew it and saw that the sword was a double-edged broadsword without the curves at the bottom. The steel was a pearl white and connected at the tip where a gleam of light shined. He could see his white hair and green eyes clearly in the blade. He looked at her with a shocked expression.

"How?" He asked.

"I went on a special quest while I was out looking for something to give you. You always hung around blacksmiths whenever we went into a village. So a sword was perfect for you. After the quest, I earned this, and I named it after you." She blushed a little."Do you like it?"

"Definitely." Phantom said. He gave it a few swings and found that it was a light as a feather and didn't make a sound. "It's quiet." He commented, swinging the sword a few more times. Ema watched as he tested his new sword.

"I'm glad you liked it, it came from a high floor." She said.

"Which one?" He asked, charging a move. His sword glowed white.

"Floor 67." She said, Phantom stopped his swinging to stare at her.

"But how, I haven't even gotten to that floor yet." He asked, eyes wide.

"I told you, a special quest." Phantom narrowed his eyes, but relented. He trusted her, so there was no need to question her. He sheathed the sword across his back.

"Thanks." He said, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back, but fell through him when his form started to fizz and glitch. She turned around and saw Phantom stuck in his previous pose, just like before. The word 'Offline' was on top of his head. Ema tried to touch him, but her hand went through his form. She pulled her hand back. _'Why is he offline? That phase passed after the first two_ months.' Ema thought. She opened the menu and hit 'International News' She chose America. Illinois. Amity Park. She saw a video of a small family packing. It had a mother and Father with a daughter, and one unconscious son with a helmet on his head. They were taking him out of the hospital and into a tank of some sort. There was a headline.

_"#1 ghost researchers moving?!"_ She closed the video and opened the article. She read the article_._

_"As of this day, December 25, 2026, marks the fifth month resident hero, Danny Phantom, has disappeared from Amity Park." _Ema looked at the picture of said hero and the Phantom in front of her. They were one and the same. She held her giggles and moved on in the article._"The first month without our hero was a hard one that made most families move out of Amity Park. The ghost attacks were too much, and even the best ghost hunters were defeated, and humiliated with the ghost always making a remark about how this Phantom was better than them. All too soon, the ghost hunters had begun giving up hope for this town. Most packed and left, but one pair stayed. Jack and Maddie Fenton. Father and Mother of Jasmine Fenton and Daniel Fenton who has slipped into a coma with a NerveGear on his head. Reports say that his sister was given a warning about it would be lethal to remove the headset from the developer Akihika Kayaba, and that he should be let alone. She followed his wish neither parent knowing what was going on with their son. Jasmine moved her brother to the local hospital and left him in the care of the EMTs. Back to the parents of said child, they kept hunting, but eventually gave up when the ghost started to come less and less, and eventually vanishing all together. The family was forced to take Daniel out of the hospital due to low funds and have decided to move to keep their family from poverty. Where the small family will be going is a mystery, and they haven't disclosed any information to the police, but there has been one message left to Danny Phantom from Amity Park and the surrounding areas, including the ghost hunters of the world, excluding the GIW organization, which was disbanded." _There was a picture with people holding a sign over their heads. It read,"We're sorry. Please come back Danny Phantom." Then there was a little scribble near the corner."I'll give you a kiss if you do - Paulina." Ema closed the menu and looked at Phantom, who was still glitched. She sighed and sat down by him.

"You're going to be very shocked when we clear the game, and happy. Your town finally recognized you as a hero, and now you can't see them again." She sighed, but a panel opened up in front of Phantom's face. She stared at it, and pressed the view button.

_You will never know how long it took to hack the headset without the doctors freaking out or the set about to microwave your brain. The most I could do was send this message. Listen man, I'm sorry, me and Sam. We're both sorry. Turns out that Gregor was a fake, and that you were right. Sam was so upset about it, but when she heard you were in a coma, she practically broke down. We never got to tell you that we were sorry, maybe you wouldn't be trapped in a game, which is awesome by the way, when you're inside of it. I know we promised to never be mushy to each other, but I miss you bro. Sam misses you, Jazz misses you, even the ghost miss you man! Sam moved out of town. The ghosts were too much for her parents, now she's in France or something. You're moving right now. I don't know where you're going, but I know that you won't be coming back. I'm going to miss you, you and Sam. Here's some things you might want to know. You being in a coma ignited lots of rumors around school, and one of the kids managed to get a picture of your body. They saw- they saw the scars. They saw all of your bruises, and cuts and scars. The staff found out and saw the pictures. They were sick after that. One of the many rumors that everyone thought was true was that you attempted suicide, and those scars and bruises and cuts helped prove that. Dash and his cronies just laughed and brushed it off, but when they were allowed to see you, somehow the headset turned invisible and checked your body to see if the rumors were true. When the saw your scars they thought they had pushed you to your breaking point and apologized to you, and us. Dude, they were so scared that they led you to suicide that they stopped bullying the weak and nerdy. Kwan was the one who was most affected by your coma. He just cried in front of your bed, and the doctors had to escort him out. Paulina came in and started talking in Spanish or something, then apologized and came out crying. Valerie was next. She saw you and apologized for breaking your heart. She told you that she was the Red Huntress, so we showed her that you were Danny Phantom. She broke down like Sam and couldn't stop apologizing to you. She, Sam, Jazz, Kwan, and me always visited you in the hospital, Sam had to drag me in, but I started coming in on my own, and we just made sure the doctors were doing the right thing with you. Your parents were more affected than Sam or Valerie or Kwan. Your mom was by your side when she found out you were in a coma after two months had passed. Better late than never, right? Anyway, your dad actually lost weight, not a lot but some, and he stopped attacking innocent snicker doodle cookies. They even kept their annual Christmas argument at bay because of you. You may have seen the news or not, but the ghosts have stopped coming. Not really; they just stopped attacking. A few ghosts came to see you and pay their respects. From the Box Ghost to the Fright Knight. You're popular, but you're not awake to enjoy it. ope your Christmas is well, and here's something I managed to hack in. It was hard to make it code and then I had to bypass so many everchanging firewalls and antivirus software, and I don't think I can do that again. Hope you like the gift, and I placed a present in your Headset Bye, buddy._

There was one attachment. Ema opened it. It was a necklace with Phantom's DP insignia. She sighed, and worked her magic from where she could, and soon, the same necklace appeared on her's and Phantom's necks. She closed the message and left her friend. Danny Fenton was a great person, and a great gamer. He taught her things that she hadn't known were about games, but she hadn't been fair. He was giving her knowledge and protection, and she only gave him a bit of comfort and happiness. She sent out a message and clicked it for him. His health bar reappeared under hers, and she smiled. She would offer her services, both inside and outside of the game. She would repay his help with hers.

* * *

**Review Reply:**

**Ghost Getter 1: Aye aye!**

**suntan140: Not exactly, but I guess this is a glimpse of what is happening to them.**

**Michael: Thanks! **

**Guest 3(Can I call you that?): I agree with you. Not my favorite characters. I see them more as people who use Danny than help him.**

**Ninuhuju: His powers are limited, for now.*Grinchy Smirk***

**Guest: he will stop glitching after a while when the game finds a way to cope with his dual personas. Next, I will do something about that. There's always Facetime, and he probably can't reconcile if he's moving to an unknown location.**

**Alliebelikov21: I will continue this story, and don't worry, there's more awesomeness in the next chapter.**

**Slenderbrine: If you want, write it. I'll be one of the first people to read it.**

**Richard1081: Yeah, Danny's going to be busy after this.**

**dudesman: I didn't think about the GIW, but he's moving somewhere. Where is he going? I don't know. (Danny: Yes you do. Dark: Shut up!)**

**F&amp;F&amp;R. Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

**See ya later**


	5. Chapter 5: A New Guild

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Phantom and Ema were walking through a was skipping around like she usually did and Phantom just walked behind her. His new sword was strung across his back and he had no shield. His outfit had changed, but not too much. He wore black boots with matching black fingerless gloves. He had on a black cloak with a hood and a white SAO on the back with a sword horizontally cutting the letters. His shirt was black with white flames coming from the ends. His pants were a dark blue. Ema was a little different. She lost the chestplate and went with a more casual and friendly look. She still had her pink shirt, but in the back it had a blue bunny on it. Her pants were a bright red, and her boots were blue. She had her weapon across her back. It was a Colichemarde sword. The blade was long and as thin as a piece of thread, and Phantom first thought she went crazy when she brought that to him and said that she would be using that as a weapon. He didn't argue, and let her use the weirdly shaped weapon.

A stone from nowhere flew and hit his head. He gave a yelp of surprise, and his health dropped by just a little. Ema turned from what she was doing to run over to him.

"What's wrong?"

"A stone just hit me." Phantom said. He picked up the offending stone and threw it back to where it came from. After a few seconds convincing Ema that he was fine, the two left the forest they were in. Phantom's attacker didn't give up and each time Phantom was hit with a stone. When his health was half full (or half empty), he had enough. Another stone was thrown and this time he caught it, and crushed it to shards in his hand.

"Who's there?" He asked, irritation clear in his voice. When nothing answered, he tried a different approach."Either come out, or I'm going to find you myself." That seemed to work as a bush rustled before someone stepped out. He was short and couldn't have been older than twelve. His hair was a dark blue and his eyes were an almond color. His outfit was a blue chestplate with some pants and a sword and shield across his back. Phantom stared at the newcomer."Why were you throwing stones at me?" He asked, some of his irritation ebbing away. The kid gulped and started rambling.

"I'msorry. MyguildrecentlydroppedinnumbersandmyguildwantedmetorecruitsomeoneandIthoughtofyousoItriedtogetyourattention. Please don't hurt me Mister." The boy spoke rapidly, and his eyes were watering.

"My name's Phantom." He interrupted. The boy stopped his ramblings and looked at the teen in front of him.

"Huh?" Was his intelligent comment.

"Call me Phantom. Mister makes me sound old, and I'm only a teenager." Phantom said."Take a deep breath and try again. I'm not going to hurt you." His voice had a calming effect on the child in front of him as he took a deep breath and spoke, remembering to greet the man in front of him.

"My name's Arnold."

"Nice to meet you Arnold. Can you tell me why you were throwing rocks at me?"

"I wanted to get your attention, and I was too nervous to approach you directly."

"Well, you have my attention. So what does a kid like you want with someone like me?"

"Um... would... you like to... join our guild?" Arnold said.

"Sorry, but I don't plan on joining a guild anytime soon." Phantom said. Ema chose this moment in time to join the conversation.

"Why not? It'll be fun. Just think of all the poeple I could see, and I'd be able to see what it's like in a guild."

"That's another reason why _we're_ not joining." Phantom said, his face hard. Ema fumed a little.

"'We're?' Since when did you rule over my choices." Ema put her hands on her hips.

"You can join if you want, but I would feel bad for the guild, not bad enough to join, but bad." Ema glared, and Phantom gave a chuckle. Ema's face flashed a smirk, and suddenly she had tears in her eyes.

"But maybe if we join the guild, my friend might be there, and you promised that you would help me find her." She sounded like a child who had their toy taken away, and Phantom couldn't fight with her. She had used two of his weaknesses. A crying girl, and a promise. He sighed.

"Fine, we'll join the guild." Ema's face suddenly cleared as she perked up.

"Yay!" She yelled. She pushed her fists into the air in victory. Phantom facepalmed and shook his head back and forth.

"You're like a child sometimes." Ema glared, and Arnold just watched as the two got into another argument, while following him to the hall.

* * *

Dani was sitting on a stool, her face solemn. She had been stuck in this game for about five months, and in that time, she started to miss Danny. She would wonder if he was worried about her. Looking for her, or if he forgot about her.

"Hey Dani! Heads up! We're getting a new guild member!" Someone randomly said, though it was hard to hear over the party noise. She sighed as her guild was up to it's usual antics. The Knights of the round table were nothing like their namesake. They were too goofy. Too careless, and weren't serious enough to actually do anything. She swore everyone had ADHD or something.

"That's if Arnold can actually convince his candidate."

"Who do you think it'll be?"

"Someone who is big!"

"Someone who is strong!"

"Someone who is a Knight!" Everyone cheered at the last statement.

"What if it's the Beater?" Everyone froze, even Dani. A burly man stood up and put a fist to his heart.

"If it be the Beater that little one brings in..."He paused and everyone leaned closer, wanting for the man to speak,"Then he's our ticket home!" He shouted to the heaven's, pointing his finger up. The guild hall erupted into shouts of agreement, and Dani sighed again. The Beater, Kirito. His name was famous because he had more information about the game than anyone else. She almost pitied him. So many people would kill to have his knowledge, and most would kill him to even the playing fields. She looked up and saw her white hair. A reminder of what she didn't have anymore. Her powers didn't work in the game, and she was stuck as Dani Phantom until the game was cleared.

The creek of the door opening brought her from her musings and everyone went silent. The white light from the outside hid the three figures. One of them stepped in and revealed to be Arnold, who was looking excited. The next person caused Dani to smile. Ema was her friend in the real world, and the last person made her eyes widen. Black hair that was unruly, in or out of the game. Crystal blue eyes that flashed with emotion, and a relaxed expression with a dumb grin as he looked around.

"Nice place ya got here." He said, breaking the silence. That seemed be the magic word because everybody started cheering, except him, Ema, Arnold, and Dani. Someone suddenly grabbed him and pulled his arms from his body.

"Not too scrawny." The same person said as she poked his arm.

"Hey!" Phantom shouted.

"Cute." She said, in his face. She had light green hair and blue eyes, giving her a deep sea feel.

"Hey!" Ema shouted.

"The most unruly hair I've ever seen." She said as she ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey!" Dani shouted. The only difference between Phantom's hair and her's was that he didn't have a ponytail.

"Eyes of a warrior." The girl in front of him grabbed _Phantom_ from his back.

"A hilt made of the strongest, but smoothest of leather in the game. The work of a fine crafter." Ema blushed at the indirect praise. She drew the white blade. Everyone stared in awe as a gleam reflected from the white blade.

"And the white blade of a true Knight." Phantom snatched the blade back, his hair turning white and his blade turning black. He was about to shout, but the girl continued."Aggressive. All the qualities of a Knight. I like you." The guildhall roared with cheers and laughter.

"A new one, and from the looks of it, an unusual one!" Someone shouted. Everyone cheered.

"What's going on?"Phantom asked as his hair became black. The blade faded to white as he sheathed it across his back.

"She's the guild leader. Anni." Arnold said. Danny looked at Anni, who stood out form the guild. Her expression was serious, but she smiled at him and turned to sit on a stool. Her green hair was cut to her shoulders, and her outfit was a black chestplate with a purple 'X' that crossed that middle and stretched to her waist and shoulders. A green wristband was on her left arm and she had a blue skirt instead of pants. He made his way over to her, but someone grabbed him and started to push him to other people.

Dani stared at her cousin, who was being pulled this way and that.

"DANI!" Dani only had time to look up before she was crushed under Ema's weight.

"Let go! I can't breathe!" Dani wailed, but Ema's arms failed to move from her neck. Instead, they tightened.

"Let her go." Phantom said walking to the group. His hair was more wild than usual and his sword was drawn. Ema's form covered Dani, hiding her frame from Phantom.

"But I missed her!"

"And you're going to miss her even more if she can't breathe." Phantom said matter-of-factly. Ema huffed, but stood up, and Phantom's eyes widened when he saw Dani dust herself off.

"Dani?" He asked. Dani looked at him, and Ema looked confused.

"You know her?" She asked.

"He/She's my cousin." They both said. Ema stared, then glared at Dani.

"You had a cousin and you didn't tell me?!" She shouted. Dani quickly hid behind Phantom. Ema was scary when she wanted to be, and now was one of those times. Phantom saved her with his next question, though.

"How do you know her?" Phantom asked.

"She's that 'friend' I was looking for." Ema said, calming down instantly. Dani gave a breath of relief. Phantom turned his gaze to Dani.

"Can you tell me something?"

"What?"

"Why is a Phantom standing in front of me when I'm Phantom?" He said. That's when Dani noticed his name.

"Oh um... No answer?" She said. Before Phantom could question her anymore, someone grabbed his hand.

"Dance with me." Anni said, scaring Dani. He couldn't object because she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the middle of the hall.

"You're not much on asking, are you?" Phantom said as they danced. Anni smirked and answered.

"Not really. I'd prefer to just do it without question, as long as it's reasonable."

"So if I told yo to jump off a cliff, would that count as reasonable?" Phantom jabbed. Anni leaned up to him for just a second, then twirled around him.

"Not really, but I would take you with me if you'd like." She said.

"No thanks. I'd prefer to fly, not fall."

"So you travel?"

"I've never traveled by plane, but rather by a giant tank my parents call an R.V. that explodes and has millions of weapons in it."

"You're a strange one." Anni commented.

"So I've been told."

* * *

"Wonder what they're talking about." Ema asked.

"Don't know." Dani said."Why are you guys here?"

"Hm? Oh! I convinced him to give this a guild."

"More like guilt tripped!" Phantom shouted back, still dancing with Anni.

"How'd he hear me over this racket?" Ema asked.

"We Phantoms can tell when our ego is in danger." Dani answered.

"Speaking of which, how deep does your relation with him go?"

"We're cousins."

"Who happen to share the same face and powers?" Ema asked. Dani looked shocked.

"How'd you find out?"

"I've seen Danny Phantom, and it doesn't help that his hair and eyes turn white and green in the game."

"Wait. They _turn_ white and green?"

"Yeah, but most of the time they glitch out."

"Glitch?"

"Yeah, they go all staticy and switch, but I think he's getting more control over it." Suddenly, it went silent, and they noticed that everyone was gone.

"Hey where'd everybody go?" Dani asked.

"Don't know." Ema said as she and Dani stepped outside. There was a crowd circling around two people. Ema and Dani pushed their way to the front.

"How'd they go from dancing to fighting?" Ema asked.

"Phantom Luck." Dani answered. Phantom and Anni were circling each other, weapons drawn. Anni's sword was a sleek sliver. The blade went straight up and came to a point at the top. There was a small 'X' engraved near the tip. The blade was extremely thin, thinner than _Phantom_.

"I'm giving the chance to back down." Phantom said, still circling his opponent.

"And I'm not going to take it."

"I don't fight girls."

"Then make an exception!" Anni charged Her sword glowed a vibrant green. Phantom planted his feet and angled his sword close to his face. His sword glowed blue. They both moved at impossible speeds as they flew past each other, swirling wisps of green and blue showing where their swords traveled. Everything went silent as they stood, backs to one another. Anni's cheek opened as a cut appeared on her face. Phantom's arm glowed red from his elbow up to his shoulder as a thin red line opened up. The two fighters turned to each other and clashed swords with battle cries. Sparks of blue and green shot out everytime they clashed swords. After a third attempt at overpowering the other, they jumped away from their opponent.

"You're holding out on me." Anni said, a small smirk on her face.

"I could say the same for you." Phantom said, a smirk on his face. panels opened up in front of them.

"No holding back." Anni said.

"First to red buys the other dinner." Phantom said. Dani fell to the ground.

"That was the bet." Anni said as her panel disappeared. Everyone whispered as her blade grew a few inches in depth.

"What's going on?" Ema said. Anni and Phantom charged each other again, their swords glowing.

"Anni is our guild leader because she has a Special Skill." Arnold said.

"A Special Skill?"

"Yep. She is always about attack, so her Special Skill increases her strength greatly. She could punch the ground and leave a crater the size of a small house." Phantom moved as Anni swung for his head. He ran forward and swung as she was pulling back, but she used her initial movement to swing faster and blocked Phantom's strike, causing more sparks to fly.

"So it's kind of like what Phantom has." Ema said.

"What does he have?" Dani asked. Phantom jumped into the sky and winked before vanishing from view.

"What the?" Anni said.

"He vanished." Someone in the crowd said. A red cut appeared on Anni's arm as a wind quickly blew against her.

"His stealth is maxed out, so he has the ability to more faster than you can see." Anni tried to block, but more cuts appeared and her health reached yellow.

"Like a ninja."

"Sort of." Anni raised her blade and slammed it into the ground. Phantom tripped where he was when the ground suddenly became a crater. Anni took advantage of his faultering and slashed down at Phantom. A red gash appeared on his chest. It stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip. His health dropped to yellow and was close to red.

"Wow, that actually caught me." He taunted as he ran around the crater Anni created.

"I'm looking forward to the free meal." Anni said as she ran toward Phantom, who altered his route and charged at her. As they were charging, Phantom's sword dropped to his hip. Ema recognized that stance, but before she could say anything, Phantom's sword glowed blue and he flew past Anni, who didn't have time to block the attack.

"_I_ look forward to the free dinner." Phantom flirted as her health bar reached red. Anni dropped to her knees.

"Defeated, by a boy whose tricks don't end." She looked up and smiled as Phantom's hand appeared. She took it and he pulled her up."You wouldn't let the lady pay for dinner, would you?" Anni asked, half pouting, half serious. Phantom laughed.

"Not even if you tied me to a chair in a volcano." He said. Anni smiled and the two followed everyone back inside the guildhall.

"I knew I chose the right person!" Arnold shouted, raising his hands in victory. Dani and Ema smiled at him.

"Yeah, you sure did." Ema said.

* * *

**Review Reply:**

**Brenne: More of Danny's bossness is always something to look for.**

**dudesman: Sadly I'm not going to do that, though I will still have the ghosts in the game, and Danny's going to interact with them.**

**Slenderbrine: Welcome back, and keep waiting.**

**F&amp;F&amp;R. Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

**See ya later.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Promise Made

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

"So, how many people are left?" Phantom asked as he took another gulp from his drink. Ani was sitting across from him, eating her food.

"About 10. More or less. I haven't taken a head count as of late." She said. "It's kind of impossible to do when some more people keep leaving the guild every second."

"People left? I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah. Apparently someone can leave a guild if they have permission from the owner, or if the owner dies."

"Aren't you the owner?"

"Na. I was second in command. The actual owner died in the last fight." Ani said with a wave of her hand.

"Must've been rough."

"Yeah. We're not legally a guild anymore, just a bunch of people who hang out, but hey. We've got you, and if you can fight like that, you'll probably live long enough to see the real world again, with our help of course." Ani said. Phantom laughed, but Ani started staring at his back. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. Where did you that sword? I haven't seen anything like it." Phantom blinked and took off his scabbard. He cleared the table and put his weapon on it. The two stared at it.

"I honestly don't know where it came from. My friend Ema just gave it to me as a Christmas present." Phantom said. Ani nodded and read the words. "She gave it my name so that if by somehow I lose it, someone will know who it belongs to." Phantom said as Ani took the pearly white blade from its covering. Ani looked at the words, then at Phantom.

"I don't think this is your name. The characters are different." She said, pointing to the words on the scabbard. Phantom nodded, now knowing that she wasn't American.

"To me, they look the same."

"Are you blind?"

"No. I'm American." Ani's expression was priceless, and Phantom had to put his hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"Oh, well what this says to me would roughly translate to the word Spirit in English." Ani said once she recovered from the initial shock.

"Oh. Well it's still 'Phantom' to me." Phantom said as he took the blade from Ani and sheathed it across his back. The front doors suddenly burst open and a man in steel armor ran inside.

"I've found it!" He screamed. Ani walked to the armored man.

"Great! Where is it?"

"In the pillar. It's somewhere near the top. The door is more than big enough to fit a blimp, and then some."

"Okay. You guys hear that. We're advancing!" Everyone cheered and started walking out the door, following the armored man. Phantom and Ema looked around confused.

"What's going on?"

"We've found the Floor Boss's room." Ani said, excitement in her voice. Phantom just raised an eyebrow, while Ema looked like she was going to cry tears of joy.

"Come on! Come on! I wanna see what the next floor is like!" Ema said as she started dragging Phantom to the door. Ani watched with interest at the interaction.

"Okay. Okay. Let me walk on my own!" Phantom shouted as he stumbled to keep up with his arm. Ani followed behind them.

* * *

"So, this is the place?" Ani asked.

"Yes ma'am." The walking armor said.

"I'm not old!" Ani shouted, glaring at the man. Ema was staring at the door with stars in her eyes, musing to herself.

"I wonder what the next floor will be like. I wonder what kind of NPCs we'll run into. I wonder-" Phantom was putting his shoulder back into place, virtually.

"Jeez. Did you have to drag me all the way to the room?" He whined. Ema stopped her musing and pointed at him.

"Yes. You would have taken forever to get here."

"Excuse me for wanting to take in the scenery. I like to remember the floors we get passed." He said. Phantom looked at the doors. They were made of brass, and the main feature was the knob. It looked like an angry bull with red eyes and a big ring in its nose. Phantom put his hand on the ring. "Ready?" He asked, looking back. Everyone cheered, and he took that with a sigh. _They're going to get themselves killed sooner or later._ He thought as he pulled the ring. The doors opened and the group of twelve stepped into the threshold.

"Why is it so dark?" Dani asked as she prepared herself to fight. Arnold copied her example and drew his sword. A red candle lit up in the middle. Everyone stepped back at it revealed to glowing red eyes. The eyes moved up as more candles lit themselves. As each candle lit up, the light revealed some part of their enemy. After the last candle lit up, a white light shown over the room, revealing the mighty foe. Everyone except Phantom took a step back from the boss.

"W-What the hell is that thing?!" Ema asked, backing away.

The boss had muddy brown skin. His hooves scrapped the ground. His body was pure muscle, making Dash skinny by comparison, and his head held his ring that came from his cow-like snout. The end of his tail was a small flame. His red eyes gleamed at the small group. The boss's name popped up over his head.

"Taurus the Minotaur." Phantom said, sword drawn and eyes narrowed. Taurus threw his head up and roared a battle cry. A large hammer appeared in his hands. Phantom tensed as the Minotaur charged at the group. Taurus raised his hammer and slammed it down on the group. Phantom used his blade to stop the steel. A small crater was created at his feet and he grunted as Taurus added more force.

"I could use some help!" He shouted behind him. He staggered and continued his focus on keeping the metal hammer from squashing everyone. Ani suddenly regained her bravo and drew her weapon.

"Right." She said. She ran to help Phantom. Dani and Arnold nodded to each other and roared as they charged forward. When the man-cow saw them charging, he withdrew his hammer. Phantom fell to a knee and everyone ran past him with renewed vigor.

"You okay?" Ema asked as she ran to him. Phantom was panting.

"I'm fine, but next time you want to freeze up because of how a boss looks, tell me before I hold up a two ton steel hammer." He said, annoyance in his voice.

"Sorry." Ema said, looking away from him. She felt her partner move, and saw that he was standing.

"It's okay. Ready to give him hell?" He asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah." Ema said, taking it. He helped her to her feet and she drew her claymore sword. Taurus was about to smash on the ground again, so Phantom ran faster and blocked the hammer.

"Switch!" Phantom said. Ema ran past him to the Minotaur's legs. She slashed at them, but Taurus jumped into the air, causing the crowd to look up. Phantom took another knee as his energy drained away. He narrowed his eyes at the crowd. _'Can't take another stalemate, or I'm done for.'_ He thought. The ground behind him shook, and he turned to see that Taurus was towering over him. The man-cow raised his hammer and brought it down, intending to crush the boy, but Ani appeared out of nowhere and blocked the hammer. She grunted as she kept the bar of steel from crushing her friend.

"Get up and fight! Show me that fighting spirit you had earlier!" Ani shouted while struggling. Phantom nodded and picked himself up from the ground. He picked up his sword and slashed at Taurus's arm. His sword glowed blue and he drilled his sword into Taurus's arm where the red lining was. His sword skill took over and he found himself on the other side of the Minotaur, who had a big red gash from his wrist to his shoulder. Taurus roared as one of his four health bar depleted. Everyone could see the sound waves.

"One down, three to go!" Phantom said. He charged the beast while it was vulnerable with its screaming. He got another hack at its leg before the hoof extended and kicked him into a wall.

"Phantom!" Ani and Emma screamed. Phantom groaned as he crawled out of the wall and flipped to the floor. His health bar dropped to yellow. He had one eye closed as the Minotaur's eyes focused on him, despite the small group attacking it.

"Hey, cow!" Someone shouted. Dani flew through the air and sheathed her sword in the beast's snout. Taurus roared and Dani lost her grip on her sword and started falling.

"Dani!" Arnold said, looking up at his friend. A blur of white caught the girl and bounced around the pillars and walls, landing a few this on the boss, dropping its health another bar. When Dani opened her eyes, she saw her cousin looking at her with concern. He was holding her bridal style, which caused a bit of heat to rise to her face.

"You okay?" Phantom asked.

"Y-Yeah." Dani said, looking at his hair instead of his eyes, which she knew held nothing but concern for her. "You're hair. It's-"

"I know. It does that at times." Phantom said, referring to his snow white hair. He put Dani down and glared at Taurus, who glared back. "Stay here. I'm going to try something and I don't want to get you hurt." Phantom said. Suddenly he vanished into thin air, leaving Dani stunned. Dani then saw a blur go across Taurus's stomach, which now had a red gash. The blur came back several times and each time cut the Minotaur, causing its health to drop. When its third health bar depleted, Taurus let loose something Dani thought came closed to the Ghostly Wail. Sound waves could be seen coming from his snout and everyone held their ears as the sound threatened to deafen them. Cracks appeared in the pillars and walls and a few fell on some of the remaining guild members, killing them. The blur kept moving and cutting Taurus as the beast screamed. Dani saw a pebble fall in front of her and looked up to see a slab of rock falling above her. She screamed and closed her eyes as her last moments winded down. She felt herself get pushed out of the way of the falling slab. Someone grabbed a hold of her.

"Keep her here." Someone said, but she could barely hear them over The Minotaur's last attack. She opened her eyes to see Phantom running toward the Minotaur, his blade black and hair white. He glowed blue and before she could even breathe another breath, he moved faster than humanly possible and ended up in front of the boss, whose screams were silenced. Taurus exploded into blue shards as he was defeated and the Congratulations panel opened up behind him. Dani looked around and saw that Arnold, Ani, Emma, and the armored man were the only ones left. She heard a fist hit the ground.

"Dammit!" Phantom shouted. Ani and Emma watched as Phantom's anger skyrocketed. His hair returned to its black color. "I broke the sound barrier, but it still wasn't enough!" He banged his fist on the ground. His hand clenched and unclenched. After a minute of berating himself, he threw his head back. "DAMMIT!" He screamed. Everyone covered their ears at the volume. When it was over, Phantom fell over onto his back. Everyone gathered around him.

"You okay?" Emma asked. That's when she noticed his health bar, it was the closest to red that she'd ever seen it. Phantom turned over and used his sword to help himself to his feet.

"Yeah. Let's get going." He said in a monotone voice. Everyone looked at each other and nodded, making a silent agreement. Ani stepped up and gripped Phantom's shoulder, causing the boy to stop.

"It's okay. Sometimes there just isn't anything you can do."

"I know, but it's the first time I was too slow." Phantom said, clenching his fists.

"Then avenge them." Dani said. Everyone turned to her. "Make it so that their deaths weren't in vain."

"Everyone wants the same thing in this world." Arnold continued.

"To get out of it. If we clear the game, everyone will be released, dead-" Emma said.

"Or alive." Ani finished. Everyone was silent as Phantom thought it over.

"That sounds like a good idea. Avenge the fallen. Okay I promise to clear the game for everyone. Dead or alive!" Phantom said, his words growing stronger every second. He raised his fist, and everyone followed his example, all smiles. He didn't notice the blue mist that came from his mouth.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7: The Ghost of a Murder

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Danny Phantom or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Phantom and Ema were touring a village that they found. Dani was at the new apartment that they found, and Arnold and Ani left to go to a meeting about a boss that Phantom didn't feel like going to. Ema looked up at Phantom. She didn't know what was going through his mind, but she knew it had something to do with his new promise. Dani had told her:

_"Whenever he makes a promise, he _will_ fight the devil himself in order to fulfill it. He's never broken a promise, ever." Dani said as she spoke to Ema about the last fight._

She had no doubt that he would never break a promise, but she was concerned about how far he would go to fulfill his promise.

"Phantom?" She asked. He turned his head to her.

"Huh?" She reached down and squeezed his hand.

"Don't kill yourself to free us. I want to go back to the real world with you." She said, squeezing is hand even more.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. We'll make it out of here alive." Phantom said, smiling. Ema nodded, but didn't let go of his hands. "Hey, can you let my hand go? I need to get something." Phantom said. Ema's face exploded into steam and she quickly let go of his hand. "Thanks. Stay here. I'll be right back." Ema nodded with a red face and watched as Phantom ran off. At that same time, people started rushing to get ahead of her, dragging her along to a sight.

* * *

Phantom ran into the alleyway, He knew something was here. He sensed it.

"Where are you? I'm not going to hurt you." Phantom said. A blue mist came from his mouth. He turned around in time to see a glowing woman come from behind a barrel.

"Hello."

"Hi. What's your name?"

"Grizelda. I'm an SAO player." Griszelda said. Phantom looked her over.

"You're a ghost." Phantom said.

"Takes one to know one." Grizelda said. Phantom smiled.

"How are you in the game? Shouldn't you be in the Ghost Zone?"

"Yes, but I am trapped here. Me and others."

"Others?"

"Ghosts of dead SAO players are starting to rise, though we don't know the reason."

"I see. Why did you show yourself to me?"

"Because you can see me. And since you can see me, the other ghost will start to come to you for entertainment, or for help, like me."

"You need help?"

"Yes. My friends are doing something rather, detestable in order to avenge my death, since you are the only one who can see me, can I ask for you to make them see reason? To let go of me? I will be in your debt."

"I accept." Phantom said.

"Excellent. I shall accompany you to see that your task is fulfilled."

"You have a weird way of talking."

"I am from Britain."

"That explains it." Phantom said, walking out of the alley. The ghost behind him followed, observing him. _'This is the one they call Danny Phantom? He certainly lives up to the stories, even their description of him is on point. A gentleman at heart."_ Phantom walked out into the crowd, looking at where they were looking. A man was hanging off a building with a sword in his chest. Phantom heard footsteps and looked around. Kirito and some girl ran up to the scene. He couldn't make out their conversation, but he saw the girl ran to the building with the hanging man, and he followed.

"Who are you?" She asked as forcefully shoved the door open.

"No one special, now get going!" She followed his command and ran into the tower, while Phantom ran back outside. _'How the hell did he even get up there?'_ He thought. He jumped onto the tower and started climbing. He was nearly there when the hanging man gave up and exploded into blue shards. Phantom stared at where the man was. His last real battle came to mind. He lowered his head and slid down the tower. Ema was at his side immediately.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Everyone look for the player with the winner icon." Kirito shouted. _'That's right. The only way he could've died, is if he was in a duel, but that still doesn't answer the question of why he was hanging. If he lost, the winner would've made sure he was dead, not put him on public display.'_ Phantom thought as he looked around, but no one had the icon of a winner above their heads. Phantom grunted and looked at the tower. The rope was still hanging. _'The 'winner' must've hung him to finish the duel. That would mean that he's still up there.' _He quickly ran inside, Ema following him.

When they got to the top room, it was empty, except with a rope tied to a post. There was no one in the tower.

"What the?" Phantom said, running to the rope. Ema stood beside him.

"Think the duel winner decided to hang him?"

"No. That's not it. The rope-" It was at that moment that Kirito and the white and red girl walked into the room. The two groups stared at each other until Phantom raised his hand.

"Hey Kirito." He said, smiling.

* * *

"It had to be a duel. It's a safe zone and there's no other way to die in a safe zone." Asuna said.

"It wasn't a duel. That rope was used to hang him right, but why hang him in the first place?" Phantom questioned.

"To put him on display, to provoke fear." Kirito said.

"Yeah, but there was no one here, and the loser must've held stone still to allow himself to be tied up like that." Phantom said.

"So what, do you think he'd do this to himself?" Asuna argued.

"If he did, there are much quicker ways and more private places to kill yourself."

"So then what happened?"

"That's the thing. Maybe someone hacked the game." Ema jumped a little at the declaration, but Phantom didn't pay any mind.

"That's a possibility, but I don't think that happened."

"How about we meet somewhere to discuss this. I'll bring some people and they can decide what could've happened." Phantom suggested, tired of arguing with Asuna. Everyone nodded and Phantom and Ema left the Tower, agreeing on a meeting place and time.

"What do you think happened?" Ema asked as they walked through the crowd.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Phantom said. He suddenly had a feeling of being watched. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone, not even Grizelda.

* * *

Phantom and his group met up at his house.

"So what do we have?"

"First off. From the meeting, we can assume that the Black Swordsman and the Lightning Flash are in the surrounding area." Ani said, sitting on a couch.

"Someone died in a safe zone, and that should be impossible." Emma said. She was beside Ani, except that she was sitting upside down on the couch with her feet in the air.

"The way they plan to fight the next boss is by luring it into the village. That way, it will attack the NPCs and we can focus on killing it." Arnold said, sitting on the other side of the table.

"I heard rumors that another player just died a few months ago in a forest. She was led there by a couple of people and they killed her on the spot." Dani said, sitting on the stairs.

"Okay, so here's the plan. We're going to put moving to the next floor on hold until we solve what happened. Tomorrow, everyone is coming with me. Ema and I ran into some people who are investigating and we decided to work together for this. Understood?" Everyone nodded, and Phantom called the meeting. Ani gave him the map that was used in the meeting that she stole, to which he berated her about, but decided to just sigh and move on.

When everyone was out of the kitchen, Phantom plopped down on the couch with a sigh. His ghost sense went off.

"Grizelda, I know you're there." He said with closed eyes. The dead player rose from behind the couch.

"Sorry, but I am nervous around your friends. I really don't like meeting new people."

"Eh. Neither did I but hey. It happens." He said. He reoriented himself to sit up. "Now, tell me what happened when you were killed." Grizelda nodded and sat near him, putting her head on his shoulder. It shocked Phantom that he could feel her head on his shoulder. She started talking, and he hung onto every word and committed it to memory.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Whe Phantom and his group arrived, Kirito and Asuna was sitting with a purple haired girl. The same purple haired girl that Phantom saw yesterday.

"Sorry, we're late Phantom said. Kirito's group turned their heads to Phantom.

"No problem." Phantom and his group took seats in a nearby table. Grizelda walked into and corner and sat down on her knees.

"Who's she?" Phantom asked, pointing to the purple haired girl.

"This is Yolko. She's from the victim's guild, Golden Apple."

"Golden Apple." Phantom said. He took at glance at Grizelda, and she nodded. This girl was from her guild.

"So how have you guys found out?"

"The spear that was used was made by someone named Grimlock. He was Grizelda's husband, and he is a suspect of killing Grizelda." Grizelda shook her head at Kirito's last statement. Phantom nodded. Whoever Grimlock was, he isn't the killer. "He's targeting people who voted to not sell a powerful ring."

"I see. So the victim was someone who voted to not sell the ring?" Ani asked. Kirito nodded.

"I see. Well, is there anyone that we know who might be in the guild?"

"Asuna knows someone." Kirito said. Phantom nodded, but saw the stare that Grizelda gave Yolko.

"Let's go find him." Phantom said. Everyone nodded and left the building. When Kirito, Asuna, and Yolko were far enough, Phantom pulled Ani close to him.

"When we find him and settle down, take everybody and scout the area." He whispered into her ear.

"Why?"

"Something's not adding up. I feel it." Phantom said. Ani nodded, and they ran to catch up with the group.

* * *

Phantom, Asuna, Kirito, and Yolko were inside of a room with a single window. Phantom stood by the window and looked out. Ani was running along the rooftops, trying to find anything suspicious, meaning that everyone was following her example. He turned back to the conversation. As Yolko started to rant. He grabbed her shoulder and gave them a tight squeeze. She seemed to calm down and settled down by the window.

"Grimlock was the only one who said to leave the decision to Grizelda. He's the only one who has the right to avenge her." Yolko said. Her confession seemed to be more than enough for the tank t handle and Phantom watched as he broke down.

"No way. N-No way. You can't be okay with this Yolko! How can you accept being killed over some stupid vendetta?!" He was about to try and reach over to her, but Kirito grabbed his hand and Phantom grabbed his sword's handle. Phantom's eyes narrowed, then suddenly widened. He heard something fly though the air, toward Yolko. He turned and was about to push Yolko away from the window, but he was too slow. Yolko's eye widened as a dagger embed itself into her back. She staggered and fell out of the window.

"Yolko!" Phantom tried to reach for her, but she didn't try to take his hand and fell to the ground instead, exploding into blue shards. Phantom stared in shock, but was dragged out of it a second later when he heard Ani shout.

"Stop running!" Ani shouted. Phantom looked over and saw everybody he brought chasing a cloaked figure. He narrowed his eyes.

"Watch him." He commanded. He leapt out of the window. Asuna shouted at him when he left, and Kirito followed soon after him. Phantom ran right behind him, his group standing back and watching. The cloaked figure looked back and showed off a blue crystal that Phantom immediately noticed. He sped up and was about to catch the runner, but a bell sounded and the cloaked figured was engulfed in a blue light. Phantom jumped forward, and the blue light vanished before he could touch it, resulting in him sliding across the rooftop, and into a building. He slid down the building into the alley. When he landed hard on his backside, he staggered to his feet.

"Ow." He said. His health bar dropped half way because of the fall. "Dammit." He said. He turned just in time to be tackled by Dani.

"Don't do something so stupid again!" She shouted as she crushed his neck.

"Okay, please get off of me. I need to breathe too!" He shouted flailing his arms around. After a few seconds, Dani let go and Phantom got to his feet. He looked at the trail of destruction he left.

"He got away." Ani said, coming to stand by him.

"Yeah." Phantom said, his eyes trained on the spot where he almost caught the killer.

Phantom and his friends returned to the meeting place. When he opened the door, a very sharp rapier was shoved in his face. He put his hands into the air as a reaction.

"What were you thinking?" Asuna said.

"That I'm hungry?" Phantom said. Ani put a hand over her mouth to stifle he laughter while everyone else deadpanned. "What?" asked when he saw everyone's faces. Asuna put up her sword and everyone walked into the room. Phantom looked at the dagger in Kirito's hand. _'Grimlock's dagger.'_ He thought. Grizelda appeared right beside him.

The tank in the room continued his fear induced breakdown.

"That was Grizelda. It was her ghost. I know it." Phantom glanced to the side at Grizelda's ghost. _'No you don't.'_

"Think about it. Only a ghost can PK someone in a safe zone right?" The guy started laughing like a maniac, to which Ema walked over and slapped him in the face.

"That wasn't a ghost. Someone's using the system to kill. That' the only way these murders can happen in a safe zone." Kirito banged his fist against the wall. Phantom looked toward Grizelda, who was looking at her broken comrade with concern. _'Something's off about this whole thing. What am I missing?' _He thought to himself.

* * *

Everyone was back at Phantom's apartment, except Kirito and Asuna.

"Are you sure it wasn't Grizelda's ghost?" Ani asked. Phantom cast a glance behind him. Grizelda was sitting on the stairs.

"Yeah." He said. He looked at his gloves. _'I need to get some new ones. These are almost gone.'_

"Earth to Phantom. Come in." Ani said, frustrated.

"Roger." He said, waving his hand back and forth.

"As I was saying, if it wasn't Grizelda's ghost, then how do you explain the fact that two people were killed in a safe zone?"

"I don't know. Everything points to it being impossible, but it happened."

"It's kind of like a magic trick." Dani said. Everyone turned to her with a confused expression.

"Huh?"

"Magicians do the impossible. They can make a rabbit disappear into thin air, even though it's impossible." She said. Phantom tilted his head onto his arm. _'A magic trick huh? Well I can't rule that out. But this is a game, it's not like someone can just pull a rabbit out of a hat. Or just disappear into thin air without a teleportation crystal, unless you're a ghost.´_ Phantom looked at Grizelda, who was standing by him. He raised an eyebrow and she leaned down.

"I just noticed something. When my two guildmates died, their health didn't do down."

"How would you know?"

"I'm still in their guild, though they don't know it. I can see their health. Both bars are still full." She said. Phantom's eyes widened with the news. _'That means that they did do a magic trick.'_ Everyone was startled when Phantom slammed his fist into the table. They stared at him, but he didn't pay attention. His glove suddenly burst into blue shards. Phantom gasped and shot up.

"I know what happened now." He shouted.

"What?"

"No one died. They disappeared, like magic." He said, piecing everything together.

"But the game doesn't have magic." Ema said.

"But there still are ways to look like it. Remember what you said."

"I like rice balls?" Phantom facepalmed.

"No, that whatever you can do in the real world, you can do in here. Though that's not true on some occasions, it's still true. You can make something look like magic-"

"If you do it at the right time. That means that we were tricked." Ani said, balling her fist.

"Let's go. We've got a solution. I need to tell Kirito." Phantom said. Everyone hurried out the door. After about five seconds later, the door opened again.

"Sorry, let's go." Phantom said, rubbing the back of his head. Grizelda stood up from the stairs and walked over to the door.

"Better." Girzelda said. Phantom held open the door, and slammed it shut.

* * *

Phantom appeared in a tree beside the area. Three robbed figures stood there. Kirito was standing in front of them with his sword drawn. Yolko and another cloaked figure were behind the tank Phantom met earlier. Phantom drew a dagger in case one of the men decided to make a move. Someone snapped, and the three sheathed their swords and left. Phantom narrowed his eyes. They were leaving to go kill someone else. He wanted to throw the dagger, but he held onto it. Grizelda was bristling near him. Her killer was near. Asuna walked out of the clearing, with a man in a fedora. Phantom narrowed his eyes.

"Grimlock." He growled out. As he listened to the real killer talk, his grip on his dagger threatened to snap it in two. He took aim. He wasn't going to kill him, but his was going to leave a memory of this man's mistake. As he was about to thrown Grizelda grabbed his hand, and pointed to the scene. Phantom turned his gaze and saw Grimlock on his knees, his former guildmates holding him up.

"This is our problem from now on. Thanks for the help." Yolko said. The two groups walked away, and Phantom looked toward Grizelda. She was looking toward her grave that her friends made. She walked towards it. Phantom just watched. He smiled and put his dagger away. He left the ghost to her business, and the two swordsman. _'Mystery solved. Now I'm going to go eat. The others practically passed out after five feet, and that's not something I want to happen me.' _He thought, walking away. Grizelda turned her head towards his retreating form and smiled.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8: Two Years

**Dark: Hey guys. Long time no see. I would have some half-assed excuse about why I didn't update this in so long, but instead, I'm just going to say that I am very sorry for the long wait.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SAO of Danny Phantom. They belong to their respective owners.**

_'Two years. I almost can't believe it.'_ Danny thought as he stared up at the sky. Today marked the second anniversary of the launch of SAO, and he was going over past events. _'I wonder how Ani and Arnold are doing. They haven't replied to anything in a while.'_ Anni and Arnold and Dani had left his party about a year ago, leaving him with Ema once again. Anni had kept in touch, and Arnold was dragged around by her, with Dani following, but as of last week, all three of them went silent. Danny hoped it was nothing, but his worries were beginning to pile up.

"Maybe I should check up on them." Danny said, clouds reflecting off of his eyes.

"You're talking to yourself again." Ema said, walking up to him. Ema's personality changed as well, slightly. She was more confident and had somehow gotten a little more serious in the last two years. She was very skilled and maxed out a few skills such as fishing and archery. She even kept a small bow on her back in case she lost her sword, which she had switched from a claymore to a spathe, which she had forged herself. Danny still kept his glowing white sword _Phantom_ with him. It was his most prized possession.

"Sorry, but it helps me keep track of things I need to do."

"Or you just like to hear your own voice." Ema muttered, loud enough for Danny to hear. Danny gained a smug look and placed a hand on his chin.

"My voice is angelic." He said smugly. Ema just sighed, then looked him in the eyes.

"Still no word from Ani or Arnold?" She asked, worry for her friends very clear in her voice. Danny's expression matched hers and he pulled out his menu. _'Still nothing.'_ He thought as he looked at his messages.

"No. I was thinking about checking up on them." Danny said. He let his menu drop as Ema put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure they're fine." She said reassuringly.

"I hope they are." Danny said. Ema's expression dropped into concern, then she pulled Danny to his feet. His confusion showed on his face.

"Come on. We've been on this floor long enough. Let's get to the next. The boss of this was already defeated a while ago, so let's move." She offered. She figured it worked since Danny's expression lightened up.

"Alright."

**Line Break**

As Danny and Ema were walking through a small marketplace. Danny was happily talking to other players and shops, while Ema looked bored out of her mind.

"Aw! When are we going to be done?" She whined.

"Well, I guess we don't have to eat."

"Never mind!" Ema quickly said. Danny gave her a smirk and walked off. "Sometimes, I wish I stayed in the forest." Ema muttered, running to catch up with Danny. "What are we even looking for?"

"Well. Your cooking skill is maxed out, so we're looking for dinner. Take a look around and grab anything you want." Ema ran in front of him and clapped her hands in front of her face.

"Really?" Ema asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah. You're the chef." Phantom said, nodding.

"Yay!" She said, running off. Danny looked after her as she ran, and laughed when she ran into some stacked crates, causing them to shatter. The shop manager started yelling at her, and she looked nervous. Danny continued with his shopping after seeing that spectacle.

Thirty minutes later, Ema came back to Danny, a pout on her face, causing Danny to raise an eyebrow. "Uh, you okay?" He asked. Ema shook her head.

"I couldn't get any ingredients to make oden." She lamented. Danny continued to stare at her, then at her empty hands.

"Did you get anything?" He asked.

"I got a fish." She said. Her menu opened up, and a dead fish appeared in her hands. _'Well. At least her fishing skill is getting better.'_ Danny thought.

"Okay… Then I guess you'll make fried fish tonight?"

"Okay." Ema said, still pouting.

"You know, when you act like that. I can't tell if you're sixteen or ten."

"I'm going to be sixteen. Soon."

"That's right. Your birthday is coming up." Danny asked. Ema nodded, running ahead of him and turning to stare back at him.

"Right. So what are we doing this year?"

"I don't know. This game has been on my mind lately. So I kind of forgot." Phantom said, slight regret coating his voice. Ema put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. You just wanted to help everybody. It's fine." Ema said, though sadness was evident in her tone.

"Yeah." Danny said. He tapped his fist against his palm. "So I'll have to come up with something else in a few days as your surprise." He pointed at her. "You won't know what hit you." He said, smiling as if he heard a challenge.

"I look forward to it." Ema said, smiling.

A few days later, Ema groaned as something shook her awake.

"Go away…"

"If that's how you start your birthday, then maybe I will." A familiar voice said, waking Ema up just a little bit more.

"Huh?" Ema said, turning around and opening her eyes. The first thing she saw was Phantom's blue eyes staring at her. "Hi Phantom." She said, her eyes unfocused. She turned back around and closed her eyes. Phantom blinked in confusion.

"AH! PHANTOM!" Ema shouted, shooting up and causing the blankets to pool on the floor, surprising Phantom. His face turned red as her saw Ema's pajamas, which consisted of nothing more than a blue bra and panties. His attention was brought back to her face when she screamed. "GET OUT!" She shouted, her face red. She grabbed something off of the stand next to her and threw it at Phantom, causing him to duck. He made a break for the door. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" She shouted, throwing various objects at the boy as he ran.

"Okay. Okay. Stop throwing things a me." Phantom said as he ran. He made it so the door, stopping as a lamp was shattered against the door.

"OUT!" Ema shouted, throwing her pillow. Phantom slammed the door shut before he could get hit, causing the pillow to smack into the door uselessly. Ema panted as she stared at the door to make sure her friend didn't come in. She grabbed another pillow as the door opened again.

"By the way, what do you want for—" Phantom was interrupted by a pillow to his face.

"OUT!"

**Line Break**

Ema's face was still a bright red as she walked beside Phantom, the events of the morning still on her mind.

"Well. That was a great start to the day." Phantom said, teasing.

"Shut up!" Ema shouted, her blush getting darker. Phantom just smiled, and grabbed her hand.

"Alright. Anyway, let's go." He said. Ema looked at their connected hands, and raised an eyebrow.

"Where?" She asked.

"To your birthday of course." At Ema's confused expression, Phantom explained. "You like seeing new floors, so I figured that we clear as many floors as possible today, and check them out over the next few weeks or months." Ema was okay with it, but the exploration would take them from the front lines, which concerned her. Phantom was one of the most active members of the front lines, and to take a break for her, she didn't like it.

"But what about—"

"Two years have passed for everybody in the game, I'm sure they can hold out for a few months." Phantom interrupted, "And who knows. Maybe the game will be cleared before then? So let's go make an effort!" He said. Ema nodding, smiling.

"Right!"

**Line Break**

"Can… Can we stop… now?" Ema said, panting from exhaustion. She was panting and looked ready to drop at any second. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she guessed between twelve and fifteen hours. She and Phantom managed to clear four floors since she woke up. She was proud of herself, since she didn't think she would get past the third boss, which was more or less insane. Phantom stopped walking up the stairs to the next boss room. He gave her a look of concern.

"Can't go on?" He asked. Ema nodded, and Phantom smiled.

"Too… tired." She said. Her partner walked down to her and pat her on the back.

"Well. We did clear four floors." He seemed to be thinking about something. Once he made his internal decision, he smiled. "Alright. We can stop." He said. Ema fell on her butt as if strings had been cut loose. "We did well. I only thought we would clear two floors before having to go back and heal." He said. Ema nodded. Phantom's bar of health was bordering in the middle of red, while hers was yellow with no danger of going to red. "At least we made it to floor 70 for the other players."

"I'm… done for a while." Ema said, still catching her breath.

"Alright." Phantom said, bending down and putting his arms on her back and knees.

Ema gave him a curious look as he put his arms under her. "What are you—Ah!" She gave a small shriek as Phantom picked her up and carried her, bridal style.

"You're too tired to move, so I'm going to carry you back out of the pillar." Phantom explained.

"O-Okay." Ema said, burying her head in Phantom's chest. She didn't mind, and she probably couldn't walk even if she tried.

As Phantom walked out of the pillar, he checked on his passenger. Ema's head came out of his chest, and he saw that she fell asleep against him. Phantom sighed.

"You're a handful at times. You know that?" He said. He looked forwards. "Now it's time for part two of your birthday surprise." He said, sprinting towards the nearest marketplace.

**Line Break**

Ema didn't know when she fell asleep, but when she opened her eyes to the bright virtual sun, she groaned. "Turn it off," she said, turning on her side, only to fall and hit the ground. She looked around with a shocked expression and pushed herself to her feet. She looked around to see crates stacked high surrounding her, and a smaller pile of crates that she fell off of. "Wha?" She asked, pushing herself to her feet. She put her hands against a wall of crates. "Where am I?" She asked. She pushed against the crates, but they held like a wall. She tried against the other three walls, but they were stiff as well. She pushed again, fear creeping up her back. "Phantom? Are you there?" She asked, pushing against a wall of crates. "Phantom?" She called. She tried punching a crate, but a purple icon appeared. "'Immovable object?'" Ema read. The icon disappeared as a crate became static for a second, making her jump back in fright. The crate was pushed until it fell and shattered into blue shards. Phantom's smiling face appeared in the hole.

"Hey! Sleeping Beauty's awake!" He said. There was shuffling that Ema couldn't see.

"Where am I?" Ema asked, kneeling to the hole.

"In a back alley. We're in a safe zone, more specifically, a marketplace."

"Why am I trapped in a box of crates?"

"Well, everyone started staring at me when I carried your sleeping body through the place, so I gathered a ton of crates and made a fort for you. And due to my _special abilities _I managed to make sure that you were protected. It keeps you from getting PK'd while I make sure that your birthday will be as awesome as possible." Danny explained.

"That makes sense. I guess?" Ema said, her shocked and scared expression adding confusion to the mix. She still wanted to know where the crates came from, but she figured that she didn't need to know. Danny's smile brightened.

"Yep. Also, guess who I ran into." He said. He liked seeing Ema like this. She was still looking at him like he had grown two heads, and she was absolutely confused. He thought she looked like a child with that expression. He didn't make it his mission to make that expression appear on her face, but it always gave him a good laugh when she looked at him like that.

"Who?" She asked. Phantom's head was moved, ad Dani's head replaced it.

"Hey Ema!" She said. Ema's expression brightened a lot. She crawled up to the hole.

"Hey Dani!" Phantom's face replaced Dani's and he spoke again.

"Arnold and Anni are here as well, but Anni's grabbing my collar, so I can't show you her." Phantom said. He was pushed down and Anni's green hair was prominent. She stared through the hole with a smile that threatened to split her face. "Hey birthday girl!" She shouted, making Ema back up a bit more.

"Hey." The trapped girl said weakly, still recovering from the shout. Anni pouted.

"Aw come on. It's your birthday. You have to be happy about that, especially in this place." Anni said, worry spreading across her face.

"You're probably scaring her. That shout startled a few people some ways away." Phantom's voice said. Anni gained a thoughtful expression looking up. She looked behind her.

"Point." She said.

Ema was starting to get cramped. "Excuse me." She said, getting Anni's attention again.

"What?"

"Can I come out now?" The black haired girl asked. Anni blinked, then smiled a cheshire smile.

"Sure, just wait a sec." Anni said, disappearing from the hole.

"Okay."

Anni reappeared. "Also, don't freak." She said before she left the hole again.

Ema stared at the hole with a raised eyebrow. "What do you me-EAAN?!" She screamed as all of the crates around her turned to static ad began to rumble. A hand pushed a crate and grabbed her arm. It pulled her as the crates began to collapse. She landed on her feet and looked very scared and confused. She looked forward and saw Dani, Anni, and Arnold in front of her, and Phantom was on her side, holding her arm. "W-What just happened?"

"Phantom managed to get a new trick into the game." Anni said, looking at Phantom. She turned to Ema and pointed a finger at her. "When were you going to tell us you were following a hero around?"

"Uh?"

"You didn't tell me that this," Anni pointed to Phantom, "was _the_ Danny Phantom of Amity Park. Do you know how many people I could make jealous? I'm dating a superhero!" She shouted, causing Phantom to sigh.

"Not so loud please. I don't want everyone in the game knowing." Phantom said, looking around. Anni waved a hand dismissively.

"Sure, sure." She said, though Phantom had a feeling she didn't hear, or care. Anni's expression sharpened into a determined smirk. "Now I really need to get back to the real world. I can brag to all my friends. Oh man. I can just see their expressions." Anni went into her imagination, causing Danny to facepalm at her actions.

"This is why I don't tell people." He said. Anni came back from her head and laughed, patting his back.

"I'm just kidding. I know all about that secret identity thing. Don't worry," She backed off, then pointed a finger at his face, "but you're explaining a few more things to me later, and when we get out of this death trap." Phantom nodded, smiling.

"Yeah. I guess I owe it to you."

"Like hell you do!" Anni turned towards the opening of the alley. "Now let's go give Ema a birthday she'll never forget!" She outed, running out of the alley.

"Yeah!" Dani and Arnold said, rushing out of the alley as well. Ema only blinked as she stared ahead of her.

"Where are they going?"

"To put the finishing touches on your surprise."

"Oh." Ema said, her voice drawling. Phantom gave her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Not really. Still getting the shock out of my system." Ema said. She suddenly shook her head and clapped her cheeks until they turned a light pink. She turned to Danny with a determined smile. "Now I'm ready." She said. Phantom smiled with her, and he lead her out of the alley and into the marketplace. He bought ingredients to make a cake, and some new clothes for Ema. Anni rejoined them later with a torch and _lots_ of fireworks and explosives. Arnold came back with a new weapon, and Dani came back with a small vial.

"It's a revival item." Dani explained, seeing their confused looks. "It only works within thirty minutes after someone dies." Dani handed Ema the vial and the older girl turned it in her hands.

"How'd you get something like that?" Ema asked, examining it. It wasn't anything she had seen before, and there was no label, other than the identification that came up with said 'Revive'.

"A man with red hair and a bandana gave it to me. He said that he wouldn't need it." Dani said. Phantom felt something prick at the back of his mind, but he let it rest.

"Thanks Dani."

"No problem." Dani said, accepting the hug. She leaned in closer to Ema's ear and whispered, "Keep it close, and keep a close eye on Danny. Who knows what stunts he might pull?" Ema giggled as she released the smaller girl.

"Are we done being cuddly? Because I bought a lot of fireworks, and a lot of torches to light them with." Anni said, her arms holding all kinds of explosives.

Later in the day, Ema was standing, watching the swirling vortex of colors in front of her. She looked up and saw Dani and Arnold playing with their sticks of fire, sparks shooting out from the tip. Phantom was sleeping on the ground next to her, and Anni—

"Fire in the hole!" Anni shouted as a rocket shot into the sky and exploded, showering down sparks of light and a message.

"HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN EMA"

Ema smiled as she read the message.

"Best birthday ever." She said.

Phantom knew something was wrong. Ever since he came out of the pillar between floor seventy and floor seventy-one, his neck hairs had been an edge. He knew that he was being followed, or at least watched, but by whom, he didn't know. The bastard, or bastards, was good at staying hidden. He knew that whoever was following him had tried to get to Ema, but his wall of intangible, or immortal, crates held strong. He was starting to get a grasp for his powers and how they affected this world. He wasn't as good as Technus, but he was improving. He could use his invisibility to make his cursor disappear, giving him the appearance of an NPC, and his intangibility made him an immortal object, so that was good in very tight situations. His ghost rays still weren't working, nor was his flight, but Danny figured that he had all the powers he needed to survive this deathtrap.

Danny peeked open an eye and saw Ema playing with Dani, both of them writing their signatures into the sky. He looked at Anni, and grunted, getting her attention.

"What is it?" She asked, her smile lifting his spirits, before reality came back to him.

"Someone's watching. Be on your guard." He said. Anni's expression turned serious as she began looking around.

"Do you know where?" She asked. Danny shook his head, causing her to grunt in frustration,

"No. I can't get a pinpoint on them, so they have really high stealth."

"Got it." Anni said. She ran back to her fireworks with a serious expression, and set off another one suspiciously close to the ground. The rocket surged forward before flying up and exploding.

Danny watched her go and closed his eyes. _'The front lines are dwindling.'_ He thought, frowning. _'They're losing hope. They're accepting _this_ as reality. How can I give them that hope back? How can I restore the fire that everyone had after day one of SAO?'_ Phantom drew blanks, He couldn't come up with anything that would help the people decide that they wanted to see their families again. Any ideas he did get were either nearly impossible to do, or too dangerous and stupid to attempt. Danny kept thinking about a solution until a stray thought came do him. _'Do I still hope to get out of here?'_ The thought struck him like a brick, and he found that he couldn't give an answer. He wanted to say yes, but at the same time, that felt like a lie.

He didn't have much to go back to. Sam and Tucker were still with Gregor, wherever they were. His parents stopped caring about what he did. They lost hope in him. They lost faith that he would be a contributing member to society. Jazz was probably in college by now, so she practically has nothing to do with him anymore. She moved on and was living her life, and Danny couldn't help but think about his crumbled life.

His life was in shambles, and SAO had helped him, a lot more than he thought. Ema was constantly around him, making him feel needed and providing humor to his gray life. Anni's personality was extremely dynamic and Dani had been the only good thing from his old life. Even Arnold reminded Danny of the way he was when he was younger. Nervous, shy, and very much happy. As Danny pondered his life two years ago and his life now, he asked a question to himself. A question that he didn't know the answer too, and was scared to find it.

_'Do I even want to leave?'_

**I'm calling it here. Again, sorry for the ****_very _****long delay, but I don't think I'll have too many more problems with updates in the future, unless writers' block hits me again. Anyway a little explaining to do.**

**Danny stills thinks Sam and Tucker forgot about him. This is because he didn't read the message that Ema did. It's kind of like having someone else read your email, and the email is put away automatically after being read, without you ever knowing it was even there in the first place. Ema forgot to show Danny the message as well.**

**Anyway, I'm out.**

**Read, Review, Follow, Favorite, and have a great snow day!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Murder Guild

Ema, Phantom, Anni, Dani, and Arnold were walking through a forest. Anni's metal armor singing as she walked. Ema glanced between Anni and Phantom. Both of them were tense and she didn't know why. She could only here the sounds of the game as they walked, and Ema had enough of it.

She looked towards Phantom and tapped his shoulder. He turned to face her, and Ema froze. Phantom's expression was _very_ dark, almost murderous. It was—It was gone, and Ema blinked ad rubbed her eyes. She was sure that he had been looking something close to evil. _'Maybe it was my imagination?' _She thought. She shook her head, causing Phantom to look at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine but…"

"What?"

Ema leaned close to Phantom's ear. "Why are we traveling like this?" She whispered. Phantom chuckled for a reason that she couldn't think of.

"Like what?" He asked, his voice light with laughter. Ema looked around to the group. Anni had a small smile on her face as she listened to the two talk, but her expression kept shifting back to serious bodyguard or paid mercenary. Dani and Arnold had the same expressions on their faces.

"Everyone's so tense. It's like they're expecting something." Phantom's expression dropped into the same expression that surrounded Ema.

"It's because they are." He said, his voice low and serious.

"Oh…" Ema said. Her expression dropped, and Phantom internally cursed his heart. He pulled Ema in front of him, making her have to turn back to face him.

"Someone's been stalking us for the last few days. I don't know who, but they can't be too good if they waited days before making contact." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. His tone was lighter.

"Oh." Ema said, perking up. She turned around and walked ahead on him. They walked in silence for a moment, then Ema turned towards Phantom, walking backwards "Hey."

"I'm not going anywhere, and no one else is talking. Just say what you wanted to." He said, increasing his pace so that he stood side-to-side with Ema.

"Okay. Um…" Ema said, twiddling her thumbs. Phantom raised an eyebrow at her behavior.

"What is it?"

Ema took a deep breath. "When did you two start dating?" She asked, pointing between Phantom and Anni. Phantom leaned in close so that the others couldn't overhear.

"Never." He said. A smile stretched across his face as he looked at Ema's completely confused expression.

"Heh?"

"She just said that because of a deal we made when we were 'dancing'." Phantom said, holding back laughter as Ema's expression only became more confused. Ema raised her eyebrows in confusion and interest.

"A deal?" She asked. Phantom nodded.

"Yep. When we clear the game, I have to find her and take her on at least one date. Her saying that we're dating is just her having fun with that." Phantom leaned in closer to her ear. "Between you and me, I was hoping that she would forget." He said.

"Oh, then why didn't you correct her?"

"Because she was having fun, and she technically wasn't lying or wrong. She gets one date with an awesome superhero such as myself. Hell, I would scream that to the heavens to, but I am a superhero, so it would be tiring." Phantom said. Ema smiled at his response. "And besides. We're in a death game. We need to have as much fun as possible, otherwise well get totems in our butts." Ema blushed and moved her hands to cover her bottom, making Phantom laugh. She glared at him.

"Help! Someone, please!" A voice shouted from somewhere. Phantom was on the move before Ema or anyone else could even turn. They ran after him as he weaved through the forest, eventually coming into a clearing. There was a woman on the ground, with a cursor over her head. Phantom slid to his knees.

"Are you okay?" He asked. The woman grabbed onto his shoulders as everyone caught up to him.

"Yes. I'm fine, now." The woman said, tightening her grip on Phantom's shoulders. "Thank you for coming here, to me." The woman said. Her arm moved quick, and Ema gasped. Phantom had caught a dagger by the blade.

"You're a PKer." He said.

Clanking was heard around her, causing Ema to look around. More people appeared, each one had their weapon out, and wore maniacal expressions. The all had one various clothing, but one mark stood out from the rest. A black coffin with a face and arm on it. Dani, Arnold, and Ema drew their weapons.

"Dammit. Well, at least I don't have to get my hands dirty." The woman said, grabbing Phantom by the collar. He didn't struggle as she lifted him as she stood. Phantom didn't flinch, or emote, as she stared at him with wide eyes and a too wide smile.

"So you're the one that's been stalking us." He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not stalking. I prefer… watching my prey."

"No matter what you call it, it's still stalking." Phantom said, shrugging. He stared at her neck, which held the same mark that everyone around him had. "That's a guild mark." He commented. The woman's expression got wider.

"Yes. Laughing Coffin. A guild of righteous killers. That's who we are." He shook his head as if he was disappointed. "Why do I always get the fruitloops? I mean, at least this one could've been easy on the eyes." Phantom said. His hand moved to catch another dagger that was aimed at his head. The woman's expression changed, and now in place of her massive smile, it was a massive snarl, and she was growling.

"Stupid brat!" She said, trying again to stab Phantom, who tilted his head to the side.

"Oh come on. You've been here for two years. This is disappointing." He said, dodging another stab. "At the very least, you could've honed you stabbing skills." He dodged another three stabs and ducked out of the woman's grasp when she made a wide swing that would've cut his head from his shoulder's The woman blinked at her empty hand. "Unlike you," A voice said from behind her. She turned only to see the white blade of _Phantom_ pointed at her. "I haven't spent the last two years killing other players, so I'm really good at using a sword." Phantom said, smirking. His eyes were glaring at her. The woman froze, then lashed out with another dagger that Phantom blocked. "Come on. If you want to kill me, you've gotta do better." He taunted.

"Shut up, stupid brat!" The woman shouted, throwing her dagger. Phantom blocked the oncoming blade, and jumped back as a sword landed where he had been. He landed and followed the blade to its wielder. It was the woman, and she was _pissed_. "Don't just stand there! Kill them!" She commanded the people around her.

"Ema. Remember, kill a few to save more." Phantom said as the group converged. Ema nodded, her sword trembling in her hand. '_I have to kill these people or else they're going to kill me and others.'_ She thought. She steeled herself as a halberd came down on her. She raised her sword and let the halberd slide against the blade to the ground to her left. She thrust her sword forward with a cry, and stabbed the player that tried to kill her in the heart. His health bat dropped as he held his stomach. _'Rule 1, pain isn't a thing here.'_ She thought, following up with another thrust to the player's head. His health bar drained to zero, and he exploded into blue shards. Ema lowered her stance and looked around at the others people getting killed around her. Anni had just cleaved a person in half, then stabbed through another player, and Phantom was still taunting the deceiving woman while parring odd other attacks around him. Dani and Arnold were helping each other to get the attacking players off their feet so that Anni could strike them down.

A player landed at her feet, and Ema wasted only a second before she brought her sword down on his head. '_This isn't murder._' She thought. She looked up and ran towards Phantom, screaming as her sword found another player's heart. '_This isn't a crime._' She stood by Phantom's side as he parried another blade towards her. _'This is me carrying out my duty to protect other people._' She quickly sliced her blade through the owner's hand and spun to see the owner's shocked face. _'I'm killing to make sure no one else dies._' She was sure that her expression was serious and terrifying as the player's expression changed to terror when he saw her. _'I'm killing to protect my friends. To make sure we all make it out of this game alive.'_ Her sword found his neck, and his health bar dropped to zero. '_I'll kill anybody who kills for fun.'_ She moved to the side as a sword came down on her. She spun and kicked the player to Phantom, he brought his sword down on the player. He looked at Ema, and smiled a grateful smile. _'I'm doing the right thing. Daddy would be proud.'_ Ema nodded to herself, and ran to the closest killer. She slid through his legs, and when he tried to follow her with his eyes, a sword went through his face, killing him.

"Useless. All of you are useless!" The woman said, still trying to kill Phantom. He was dodging her attacks with a smirk, backing up only to move forward in a mock swing that parried her sword. He was doing good, until he tripped over Dani.

His expression switched as he fell onto his backside. The woman grinned, moving quickly. She kicked Phantom's weapon away and stomped on his hand. Phantom looked above his head and saw the woman raising her sword. She brought it down, only to have it blocked by Ema's blade.

"I won't let you kill him." She said, her expression serious. The woman backed away from Ema, snarling.

"And who might you be, princess?" The woman said. Now that Ema was closer, the woman's features were familiar to her. Her frenzied brown hair and eyes with bags under them. Her face was slightly angular, and familiar to Ema.

"I've seen you before." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh?" The woman said, changing her stance as she smirked. "You've seen me before? In the game?" Bits and pieces of Ema's memory flared to life, and she narrowed her eyes as she remembered the woman before her. Her dad had arrested her several times before, and she went to court against her.

"You attacked my house, held me hostage against my dad." Ema said. Her eyes narrowed as anger burned through her. It was something new. She's been annoyed, but never angry, and it was terrifying, yet overpowering. Ema took another look at the woman as her smirk grew and she pointed her weapon at Ema. At that moment, Ema decided that she wouldn't give that bitch the satisfaction of seeing her angry, or anything for that matter. Ema's expression dropped into a blank stare, even as she held her sword up.

"Oh! You're _that_ princess!" She said. "I guess it's a small world after all." She said, laughing.

"You know her?" Phantom asked, getting up and cutting through another player. Ema nodded her head.

"Yeah. I hate her." She said, monotonously. Phantom paused, almost getting sliced across the chest. Phantom didn't know that Ema could sound so… void of life.

The woman waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, hate is such a strong word. I prefer endear when describing me."

"You're nothing to _endear_." The woman's expression broke at the monotone voice, and she stared at Ema with hatred.

"I'm starting to wish I killed you back then princess." She said.

"Oh? But if you did, then I wouldn't be able to do this." Ema ran forward, her weapon glowing red as she brought it down.

"I guess I should correct my mistake!" The woman brought her sword up to meet Ema's, and the two clashed, sparks flying everywhere. Ema used the force to jump away from the woman. She landed on the ground and held her sword up behind her head. The blade glowed blue as sparks of light flew to it. After a moment, Ema shot forward, slashing at the woman, who used her weapon to defend herself. The woman's sword arm flew back, and Ema swiftly turned and slashed the woman across her back, causing her to scream. Her health bar dropped until it was close to yellow.

"You little brat!" The woman screamed, swiping her weapon at Ema, who jumped. She held her sword above her head and it glowed red. She brought it down, and the woman blocked it, sparks flying from the clash of swords. Ema moved back when her feet hit the ground, dodging a dagger that the woman had thrown. She ran forward again, swinging her weapon in an overhead slice when she was close. She followed up with another slice when the woman blocked her blade, leaving her arm open. The attack severed her arm, and caused the woman's health to drop into the yellow and close to red. She screamed as her arm shattered into blue shards. She held the red stump, glaring at Ema with the utmost hatred.

"You're not going to hurt anyone else, ever again." Ema said, holding her sword to the woman's face. The woman snarled as she quickly moved to her feet, making Ema move back. Something flashed, and Ema gasped as she was cut across her chest, her health dropping to a strong yellow. The woman stood, holding a dagger in her left hand, waving it around like a toy.

"Like hell! How can you think _you_ can tell _me_ what to do?" She growled, pointing her dagger at Ema. Ema resumed her earlier stance and leveled expression.

"It wasn't a command, it's a fact." She said. The woman tilted her head, causing her hair to sway.

"A fact huh? That's a lot coming from a princess like you." The woman rushed forward with a glowing blue dagger. Ema moved to the side and swung her sword at her opponent's back, but the woman turned and blocked it with her dagger. As Ema regained her footing, she felt the dagger enter her shoulder, dropping her health until it was bordering red. Ema moved back before she got cut again. She could see Phantom out of the corner of her eye. He was trying to get to her, but the rest of the people that ambushed them were doing their best to keep him away, and they were succeeding.

Ema turned forward and moved as the woman's sword came down on where she had been.

"So close." The woman snarled. She pulled her weapon from the ground and charged at Ema. The two clashed blades again. Sparks flew as they tried to push the other to the ground. Ema gave a final push and the woman stumbled back. Ema moved forward again, thrusting her blade forward, only to have it knocked out of her hands. Her claymore stuck itself in the ground. The girl turned, only to feel a pressure strike her chest, causing her to fall to the ground.

"That's it. Isn't it?" The woman asked. Ema looked up to see the woman looking down on her with a predatory grin. She held her blade an inch away from Ema's neck. "It was a good attempt princess." Ema's hand moved behind her back as she summoned the menu, which she memorized after opening it so many times. _'One. Two. Three. There.'_ She thought. The woman cackled in front of her. "You know. I _do_ remember this situation now. You were so helpless, begging me to let you go. I had your life in my hands, and instead I decided to hold you for ransom, but I went to jail soon after anyway!" She screeched. Ema pushed the button for her inventory. _'Which one was it?'_ She thought. "It's your fault. If only you hadn't gotten in my way. If only you hadn't given them time to set up." The woman said. She brought her gaze to Ema, and her expression screwed into hatred. _'There it is.'_ A small, black dagger with a white emblem on it materialized in her hand. "I'll rectify that mistake now." The woman said, bringing her sword down. Ema's hand moved and she moved forward. The dagger blocked the blade and caused it to hit the ground, but Ema kept moving forward, her dagger sliding against the other sword. It slid up until it bounced slightly off of the curved hilt, impaling itself in the woman's chest.

The woman's expression showed all of the shock that she and Ema shared as Ema backed off from her. Her health bar was dropping.

"I told you that you weren't going to hurt anyone else. _Ever_." Ema said as the woman's health bar reached zero. Her avatar exploded into shards and she was gone. Ema looked around and saw Anni and Phantom pushing the rest of the ambushers back. Dani and Arnold were collecting weapons and armor of the fallen player. She also saw the woman's dagger near her foot. She reached down and grabbed the weapon. _'Payback sucks, doesn't it?'_ She thought. The dagger shattered into blue shards as its durability reached zero in her crushing grip. _'Now to get out of this place.'_ She thought. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Phantom smiling at her.

"I'm sorry that you had to do that."

"It's fine. I had to do it anyway. My dad would be happy to know that she's dead."

"Would he be happy that you killed her?" Ema's fallen expression gave Phantom his answer. He sighed and sat next to Ema, pulling her head against his shoulder. She stayed there, and though he couldn't hear anything, he could feel he hiccup against his shoulder. He wanted to tell her that she did the right thing, that it wasn't her fault, but he figured that it wasn't necessary. He just rubbed her shoulder as she cried silently. Anni came by and kneeled next to Ema. She rubbed the crying girl's head and gave Phantom a sorry look. He waved his other hand in dismissal and the two continued to console the crying girl.

After a moment of crying, and another of getting herself fixed up, she looked up at him. "Can we go now? She's the one who's been following us, right?" Ema asked, slightly hiccupping.

"Sure." He said. He turned to Dani and Arnold, "Got everything?" Dani nodded with a smile.

"Yep," She turned a disappointed pout to the weapons in her hands. "Though almost none of it is useful, except this." Dani pulled out a red and black claymore. Its red grip was protected by a white guard that looked like many connected X's. The blade was red around the actual blade, and white near the center. A few crosses were designed into the blade, coming to a point at the end of the sword. "It's the only thing that's isn't about to break, or complete garbage."

"Serves those PKers right." Anni said, crossing her arms. Ema walked up and grabbed the sword by the handle.

"The _Xcavater_. This will do." She said, nodding her hand. Anni leaned her head close to Ema's staring at the weapon.

"What will do?" She asked. Ema smiled wide.

"My new weapon." She said. Anni backed up as Ema tried a few swings, getting a feel for it.

"Oh?"

Ema shrugged. "My old one was about to break anyway." She put the sword across her back. She walked to her old sword and picked it up from the ground. She hit it against a tree and watched as it shattered into blue shards. Anni clapped her hands at the display.

"You earned it." She said as encouraging as she could. Ema gave a half-hearted nod.

"I hope so too."

"Alright then." Anni nodded, then turned to the rest of the forest. She pointed with an excited and determined expression. "Let's go! The forest awaits our call!" She ran into the forest. Phantom shrugged and followed her. Dani and Arnold followed close by, and Ema brought up the rear.

**And that's it for this chapter.**

**Reviews:**

**AwesomeMan327: First, I am so sorry for the confusion. I actually forgot about that. So I decided to edit the chapter that it was mentioned a little bit, so Danny didn't give Ema that revival item, instead he gave her something else, and the dating thing came out of nowhere because that's Anni's personality, and also I explained that a little bit more in this chapter, so I hope that helps. Thank you for pointing that out to me, and again, sorry for the confusion.**

**BaconLover1800: Thanks!**


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